Endwell Fire: Town Hall Evacuated Due to Cell Phone Blaze

Smoke from a burning cell phone prompted the evacuation of the town of Union office building in a bizarre incident.

The blaze at the Town Hall at 3111 East Main Street in Endwell broke out just after noon Friday.

Town supervisor Robert Mack said he was in his second-floor office when the fire erupted. He said thick black smoke was rising up a stairway just after the fire alarm sounded.

As Mack and an an assistant were leaving the building, he spotted a man with some bags run into a first-floor bathroom.

Mack said the man pulled a hammer and a plastic container out of one of the bags. He then went into the town clerk's office and slid the burning phone into the container. The phone's lithium ion battery continued to burn after the man dropped the container.

Mack said the burning device fell onto the carpet with the cells "expanding and growing." He said "it looked just like a snake."

Endwell firefighters extinguished the blaze. Mack said the fire generated "a lot of smoke." There was no damaged to the building, which was ventilated after the blaze.

Many town employees were out of the building for lunch at the time of the fire. Mack estimated as many as 18 people were evacuated due to the incident. No injuries were reported.

The fire apparently started when the man tried to push a paper clip into the cellphone. Mack said that may have caused the battery to malfunction, generating sparks that ignited the fire.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.

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