Phone explodes in bathroom at DC’s Roosevelt High School, sending student to hospital

A high school student was hospitalized Thursday morning after a cellphone exploded at Roosevelt High School in D.C.’s Petworth neighborhood, according to the city’s fire department.

A spokesman for D.C. Fire and EMS told WTOP a cellphone exploded in a bathroom on the school’s campus at around 8:30 a.m. The department said investigators believe the explosion was related to a failure in the phone’s lithium-ion battery, and they’re still looking into what exactly caused the explosion.

An image of a phone that exploded Thursday morning in a bathroom of D.C.’s Roosevelt High School. (Courtesy D.C. Fire and EMS)

The student’s injuries were minor, according to D.C. Fire and EMS.

Following the explosion, the department shared tips on the social media platform X to prevent incidents, such as Thursday’s from happening, including using phone covers that don’t trap heat, keeping phones out of direct sunlight, using approved chargers and avoiding tight pockets, particularly while running high-performance applications.

These are images of the cellphone that exploded at Roosevelt HS, injuring 1 person. One again, we dealt with a lithium-ion battery failure. For those who charge their phones in bed or under the pillow, Don’t! #DCsBravest pic.twitter.com/2c8XIcv4Ck

— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) February 29, 2024