Gaming Mouse Sparks Blaze: Apartment Narrowly Avoided Inferno

A redditor's gaming mouse spontaneously combusted, nearly causing a house fire. The user, u/lommelinn, reported waking to the smell of smoke and discovering their Gigabyte M6880X mouse engulfed in flames while their PC was in sleep mode. The incident resulted in significant damage to the mouse, their desk, and nearby equipment, including a modular synthesizer.

The M6880X, an older wired optical mouse, lacks an internal battery and operates on a low-power USB 2.0 connection (5V at 0.5A). This unexpected failure has sparked considerable online discussion.

Images shared by the user show the mouse's top rear panel completely melted, while the underside remained relatively undamaged. The cause of this localized damage remains unclear. Further images depict scorch marks on the desk and mousepad.

My Gigabyte mouse caught fire and almost burned down my apartment
by u/lommelinn in pcmasterrace

Gigabyte officially responded to the incident, acknowledging the report and initiating a full investigation into the M6880X mouse's failure. They stated their commitment to customer safety and contacted the user to offer support.

“Hi Everyone, We have been made aware of the incident…Our team has reached out to lommelin to offer support and to investigate the matter fully…Best, The GIGABYTE Team.”

The user, in a later post, expressed their astonishment, emphasizing that the PC was in sleep mode and that subsequent voltage checks on the USB port revealed no anomalies. The cause of the fire remains a mystery.