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Where there's smoke there's an iPhone 6 Plus on fire in a man's pants near Atlanta

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An intense burning sensation in your pants is rarely something you want to experience in public, especially when it’s prompted by your iPhone 6 Plus catching on fire. Unfortunately, for one Apple user in the Atlanta area, this is precisely what happened in a store parking lot. The individual, who has asked to only be identified as Rocky in order to be spared further embarrassment, was forced to take off his pants in the middle of the busy lot. And now, understandably, he wants an apology from the Apple empire.

According to Rocky, he was in the midst of loading his car with his Home Depot purchases on Tuesday afternoon when he suddenly felt an uncomfortable heat in his front pocket. And when the area starting smoking in earnest, he knew something was really wrong. “When I saw the smoke, I undid my belt, I undid my pants,” Rocky told local newscasters. “I pushed it away, turned my head hoping it wouldn’t explode. It burned pretty much my whole front pocket, burned my boxers, started to burn my leg, but I had moved it away in time so it wouldn’t burn me.”

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While Rocky avoided any serious injury, his pride did not fare nearly as well. “I mean, it was pretty humiliating having to take your pants off in a parking lot,” he said. I agree, Rocky, I agree.

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It seems that the incident might have been prompted by a faulty battery, though Apple says it is still trying to get to the bottom of what happened. Rocky decided to look into the history of his phone after the incendiary event, and discovered that the device had a previous owner who resold it to another company in 2014. Rocky then received the refurbished version of the iPhone in October of this year.

Though he’s already received a replacement phone, that’s not quite enough for Rocky. “I guess a call from somebody just taking responsibility for it and apologizing” would be appreciated, Rocky said. After all, it’s not every day that you have to strip in a parking lot because your pants caught on fire.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
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