Lawsuit Claims Microsoft Xbox Sparked Fire That Killed Baby

The family of an Illinois infant that died in a house fire has filed a lawsuit claiming that an Xbox video game system manufactured by Microsoft and sold by Wal-Mart Stores overheated and sparked the killer blaze.
According to the suit, the wiring that connected the Xbox 360 to an electrical outlet became so hot that it started a "catastrophic" fire at a house in Warsaw, Ill. The victim, an infant named Wade Kline, perished in the inferno.

"The fire was a direct and proximate result of the overheating of the game's power supply and wiring," claims the lawsuit, which was filed in state Circuit Court in Illinois. Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and an unnamed power-supply maker are named as defendants.

On Wednesday, Wal-Mart filed a procedural motion to move the case from state court to U.S. District Court in Illinois. The suit was originally filed in December 2006.

The lawsuit claims the fatal fire occurred in December 2004, even though the Xbox 360 didn't officially launch until May 2005 -- an indication that the unit involved may actually have been a first-generation Xbox console.

[deepujatt2005]

another reason to go with ps3 :-) lolz

sorry for the kid:-(

[drtysouf21]

story i in no way condone this immature disrepectful nonsense that some idiots are posting here. Leave that sh!t elsewhere. Someones loved one passed away have some damn respect.

[ben hates you]

but sad news, no lol matter here

[The great 1]

PS3 rules, this is just plain scummy of MS to be so cheap, well that's just the MS way huh lol!

[FeralPhoenix]

Whats funny about this? You guys are f-king retards, whether the "xbox" caused it or not its still a very tragic situation.....only f-king morons would use it as some sort of "flame war" debate material. I hope you two f-king losers don't have children and if you do then I wish them well, even if their parents will make that very hard.

[Edit]vvvvv Oh, yeah Perez....I obviously agree with your comments...and reading through the other comments now, its no coincidence that everyone (with some decency) feels the same way.

[ReconHope]

someone died are u guys f@@@@@@ stupid. grow-up. i don't even know how i feel about approving this if u guys are going to make stupid comments like that.

[kewlkat007]

Anything Negative, in whichever fashion about a competitor, just fuels fanboys and somehow make them feel so good and superior about their console of choice..

This is Sad of course...I'm sure these things do go un-notice, similar to the SONY battery issues that arose a year ago, its a good thing nobody was really hurt with that. Hey this world is not perfect, if anything is possible then Sh!t will happen.

[techie]

agreed perez.

[ThaGeNeCySt]

that sucks... my sympathy is with the family

[Saint Sony]

This is all time low PS3 fanboy joking thread.

[Hydrolex]

Do it and get money then buy a PS3.

[AbyssGravelord]

Thats just F***ed up Sony fanboys real low....

[mattkelly1991]

Whats the difference between a candle and the abby that was killed in this fire?

Its ok if a candle was burnt to a crisp by crappy hardware and neglect on microsofts money hungry part.

was that joke wrong?

[alsef07]

WOW IF THIS IS TRUE, I CANT BELIEVE U FAN BOYS MAKE FUN OF IT, SUE THEM AND GET A PS3??? WOW, A BABY DIED, BUT THE ONLY THING U READ IS: "NEWS BASHING XBOX"

[PhinneousD]

:-( poor babie.

[sonarus]

wats wit all d lawsuits

[Silvia007]

A faulty power supply that overheated and started a blaze... wow. That must be one f'ed up power supply. That's just messed up. You would think there's some sort of safty mechanism. If it is because of a faulty power supply, yep, sue them for every penny they are worth. If it's something else... double blow to the family.

[iceice123]

How disgusting the Sony fanboys are, nice to see you show your real personalities.

[23478ueyur_938223]

This is awful, but I have to question whether the family was using the appropriate fire safety cable sent out later in the Xbox's life cycle, which was specifically meant to avoid this problem. It is pictured there, but who knows if it was used or not...assuming this IS the first Xbox (seems more likely).

Regardless, I am very sorry for the child and family.

[Dr Pepper]

I feel very sorry for that family

@ the great 1 & deepujatt2005
grow up and show some respect

[23478ueyur_938223]

I dunno about that:

"The lawsuit claims the fatal fire occurred in December 2004, even though the Xbox 360 didn't officially launch until May 2005 -- an indication that the unit involved may actually have been a first-generation Xbox console."

It also makes more sense that the Xbox 1 would have been the console involved since it did have a replacement cable to address this problem, that's what I was guessing.

Either way, still a terrible tragedy.

[Dr Pepper]

yeah, I didn't notice that section the first time I read it.
terrible either way

[pilotpistolpete]

I really doubt that its was the xbox's wire's fault. I'm not tried to stir sh*t up here, but I'm guessing they overloaded a powerbar or something of the sort. Very sad indeed

[AbyssGravelord]

Poor baby its just messed up how people can write comments like that...

[Plancy]

I hope they get sued for killing that baby Wade Kline.

[timmyp53]

.

[Expy]

Wow that's horrible.

[DEIx15x8]

That's why they had the recall. At least they made a change to prevent others and helped people that already have faulty ones.

[tehcellownu]

only if ms stop thinkin about beatin sony tihs gen so badly..they launched a crappy hardware to early...and they still isnt fixing the problems right now..and a whole family life been takin away..i hope they sued them for lots of money..

[bung tickler]

well first of all it was 99% likely that it was the original xbox not the 360 since the fire was started before the 360 launched... second MS did issue a recall to replace the cable free of charge all you had to do was go to any xbox retailer wih your original cable and hey would give you a new one. so please pu; your head out of your fanboy a$s.

[IBLEEDBLU]

who cares about the console or a stupid flame war

some1 died - there really shouldnt be any laughing or saying PS3 suxs or whatever

that just sad to hear

[Omicronn]

This is a sad story, and even more sad to read some peoples replies to this tragedy.

Hold off your fanboyism and think about human life here and how sad this is.
Doesnt matter if this was a MS/Sony device or a freaken hair dryer...

This is a Tragedy

Something like this should not even be posted in a site like this, and should be left to things like CNN.

[Skynetone]

bought some new smoke alarms one day and asked my friend did he have any, he said no, so i gave him my old ones, that very night hes flat went on fire

it didnt wake him up but it did wake up his girlfriend and he managed to put out the fire

The moral of this story is buy smoke alarms and if your a heavy sleeper get a girlfriend how is'nt

[The BS Police]

My Sympathies to go to the family, but there are questions I would like answered about this:

1. How was it an Xbox 360 when the fire occured a year before the 360 came out?

2. If it was an Xbox 1 was it one that was manufactured with the faulty power cables (which were recalled)?

3. Were the parents even at home when the fire started?

Just some unbiased non fanboy questions that would be asked in a case like this.

[Dr Pepper]

I didn't realize the dates were so strange, the 360 didn't launch in May 2005 either, did it? wasn't it released in November 2005?
But still, I do feel very sorry for the family.

[The BS Police]

It launched in North America on November 22nd, 2005.

[bung tickler]

you could get the 360's earlier through some mountain dew promo where they gave one away each hour for a month like 3 months or something before the november launch date.

[Omicronn]

Doesnt matter if it were a 360, original xbox or a freaken nightlite plugged into the wall, fact is, its just a tragedy.

[dominusbellum]

i know it's a tragedy buy why did the parents leave an infant home alone with an electronic device turned on like that talk about responsible parenting i hope they get through the loss okay though, but learn from their mistake

[EZCheez]

Being a parent, I think this report is not suitable for this website. We all know why we come to this website, and it is not to argue over such SERIOUS topics. This is a sad story, and to "feed the lions" such a risque topic is pure nonsense. Somebody needs to get rid of this crap.

[VirtualGamer]

Not only is this a very sad story, my condolences to the family but I think what is even more sad is some of the comments made in this thread. Some have sunk to an all time low. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves.

[The BS Police]

As long as they are not offensive.

[VirtualGamer]

Sorry if you thought I was refering to you. It's perfectly fine to ask questions and I did notice the discrepency as pointed out in the story. I was actually appauled that some would use this as a shot at MS and the 360 and that people should buy a PS3. Just goes to show you some people simply lack respect or decency. As a PS3 owner and fan that kind of stuff sickens me.

[The BS Police]

Allright, thanks for clearing that up for me, and I agree, to sue this as a way to post fanboy comments is sick.

[Xi]

my regards to the family.

[ElementX]

As a MS Xbox owner, I just have to say "tough luck". Big F'ing deal. Yes, it's tragic, but consoles don't overheat if they're turned off. How'd the parents survive without grabbing the baby? Sounds pretty fishy to me. It takes maybe 5 seconds to grab a baby. Was the baby left alone when the "fire" started? This article doesn't give any details. Anyone in their right mind would grab their kids before they escaped a fire. The living room is a common place for TVs and entertainment centers. Are you telling me that a fire was started while someone was playing an Xbox which overheated? Where are the facts? A console which is turned off or not in use uses a minimal amount of power. Overheating is caused by processors. If the processor isn't in use, it shouldn't create much heat. I call BS on this story.

Furthermore, a $50,000 lawsuit doesn't sound like very much money for the death of someone.

I don't have any regards to anyone in this case but the child. Sounds like people trying to make some money to me. A baby is worth more than $50k.

[sajj316]

As a MS Xbox owner, I just have to say "tough luck". Big F'ing deal.

that above me ... is quite a sad comment! I can't believe I'm reading this. Anyway, its news nevertheless. Any appliance can overheat .. including the Xbox 360 and no the CPU doesn't have to be running. It only takes a spark to get a fire going.

Now, everyone gets a fair shake until proven guilty. Cases like these will settle quickly but the damage has been done.

[ElementX]

Yes you read it. I don't care. Big deal. It's my opinion and I can state it. If you don't like it, ignore me. To blame a store which sold a product? That's f'ing lame. For instance... "oh, someone stabbed my husband with a kitchen knife, I'm going to blame William Sonoma for selling something which killed him" BS!

Sparks are caused by the flow of electrons. If something isn't turned on, electrons aren't flowing, or if they are it's minimal.

The fire supposedly happened in December 2004 however the suit wasn't filed until December 2006? That's pretty sketchy. I blame the parents. Nobody waits 2 years to file a suit, let alone not rescuing their kids from a fire.

It's sad that the child died. But what kind of parents leave a child in a burning building? Did they even try to rescue it? Why wait so long? If the kid was neglected as in infant, there's no telling what kind of life it would've lead growing up.

Furthermore, what kind of parents ask for money because their child died? Money won't bring the child back. "Oh, my kid is dead, I want $50,000 so I can buy a nice new car or put a down payment on a new home". Asking for money because of a death is just wrong.

[PhinneousD]

tough new to digest but this doesn't add up to a legitimate news story.

[BIadestarX]

Come on people have some respect. I understand that you people are in a mission for trying to flame the xbox 360 and pursue your agenda of santifying the PS3, but can you people pick another topic? How about picking "the towel" joke or something that no one actually died.

Accidents happen... seriously... Sony fanboys are the worst.

Here is an example of how the PS3 can also cause fires...

http://www.destructoid.com/...

"The fire department has said that they fully suspect it was the playstation 3 that caused the fire, the place where that bad boy was sitting is where the fire originated from and is where the most damage and sustained heat was."

Any electrical device can spark a fire... so stop taking advantage of a tragedy fools!

[nix]

...couldn't resist bringing in PS3 factor here, did you?

atleast for once stop your true fanboism. shucks! )X

[chrno6]

bladestar u are really respecful for trying to be sensational and flaming ps3 at the same time.

[TrenchaunT]

Very tragic. :o(

I don't want to sound unsympathetic when I say, though, that I think the lawsuit is ridiculous. Thousands of Xboxes are manufactured, any slight thing can go wrong with any of them regardless of how much effort is put into their design and production. Can MS really be held responsible for each and every possible situation just because they are evil? I don't like them either, but I don't think it's right to throw the blame at them.

We have to also consider a number of other factors. Was it in a bad location that helped it to overheat? Were too many other things plugged in such that the wiring caught fire, and not the Xbox itself? Was the Xbox negligently left on and unattended or in a situation cautioned against by the manual? Etc, etc.

The problem is that when such a tragic thing happens, the immediate response of many, many people (and I am not trying to pin this on anyone in particular) is to blame, and to seek monetary reparations. But money does not reverse tragedy, and it does nothing to bring back the lost, and it doesn't even mean that justice is served.

Let's not forget about the thousands upon thousands of Xboxes that have not started fires.

[Says you]

That you know PS3 fans very well when technically you guys are the ones that are stupid to actually support a company that has such crapy product like the XBox 360 to start with you stupid losers dont blame the PS3 fans because they have nothing to do with the familys death considering there blaming a crapy company like Microsoft that cant make anything right so I would shut up if I were you XBox 360 fans.

[00]

There you are next time you PM me makes sure its worth my time, I don't need a child(you) to throw a hissy fit because I seed something you didn't like.

Back on topic this story do'es not seem right.

[nix]

):

[Bloodmask]

I like cheese...........Do you?

[Vip3r]

This is the reason why M$ should improve it's hardware quality. There is no excuse for this. RIP little kid.

[Xbot_Killer]

that is so sad, poor little baby, if this is true and is substantiated in court this will be VERY bad for Bill and co.

[WilliamRLBaker]

Is all these people whining, and then all the people whining at the people whining, Do we know if this is real?

It seems fishy that ah original xbox *they say 360 though the 360 wasn't available when this happend* caused the death of an infant in a fire, yet they are only seeking 50,000 dollars in damages?

When this can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt then the people whining againest the whiners have nothing to say about it really.

[kvh22000]

It seems like i remember microsoft doing a recall prior to that on their adapters. Am i worng in thinking that?

[dale1]

xbox has always had reliability issues and many cases have been settled out of court hence the recall of mains adapters
dont know about xbox360 causing fires but ring of death yesssss
i just hope this not a 360 system that caused it and the big boys playing with peoples lives
weve seen these cover ups before as recalls cost millions and this type of press coverge doesn,t do anythink for gaming as a hole nor do some idiots comments on not giving a s**t