Too Hot to Handle: Gaming Mouse Allegedly Burst Into Flame and Almost “Burned Down” User's Apartment

Imagine the shock when your trusty gaming mouse suddenly turns into a fire hazard. This is exactly what happened to Reddit user lommelinn, who awoke to the smell of smoke only to discover their Gigabyte M6880X mouse ablaze on their desk. The incident occurred while their PC was in sleep mode, nearly causing a catastrophic fire that could have "burned down" their apartment.

In a detailed post on reddit, lommelinn recounted the terrifying experience: “I smelled smoke early this morning, so I rushed into my room and found my computer mouse burning with large flames. Black smoke filled the room. I quickly extinguished the fire, but inhaled a lot of smoke in the process, and my room is now in bad shape, covered with black particles (my modular synth as well). Fortunately, we avoided the worst, but the fact that this can happen is still shocking. It's an older wired, optical mouse from Gigabyte.”

The Gigabyte M6880X, an older wired model, typically draws power via a USB 2.0 port, which supplies only 5V at 0.5A, making its sudden combustion all the more baffling. Photos shared by lommelinn showed the top rear panel of the mouse completely melted, while the underside remained relatively undamaged. The cause of such selective damage remains a mystery, as does the extent of the damage to the user’s desk and mousepad, which were also affected.

My Gigabyte mouse caught fire and almost burned down my apartment

byu/lommelinn inpcmasterrace

Gigabyte responded promptly to the incident, posting a comment on the Reddit thread to address the issue:

Hi Everyone,

We have been made aware of the incident shared by lommelin regarding the M6880X gaming mice. Our customer's safety is our top priority and we are actively looking into this case. Our team has reached out to lommelin to offer support and to investigate the matter fully. In the meantime, we appreciate the community’s understanding and patience as we work to address this issue.

Best,
The GIGABYTE Team.

In a follow-up post, lommelinn expressed their confusion over the incident, stating, "My PC was in sleep mode. Since then, I checked the USB port with a voltage meter and it's fine. No clue how this can happen."