If a video game controller stops working properly and can’t be fixed, most people will likely throw it in the garbage. However, the proper thing to do when disposing of electronics is to recycle them, especially if they use batteries. The Buckinghamshire Council in England has released a message on Twitter reminding its citizens to recycle their unwanted electronic devices, as a recent incident of improper disposal caused a fire inside a garbage truck.
The garbage truck fire seems to have been caused by an old white Xbox 360 controller, as evidenced by its “shotgun” style battery pack. It seems as though the person that threw out this Xbox 360 controller left the batteries inside, which is potentially what started the fire. Firefighters were able to put out the fire and it doesn’t seem as though anyone was hurt. However, Steve Cook of Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service spoke to Planet Radio in the UK and pointed out that these kinds of fire can be especially dangerous to firefights due to the hazardous materials in garbage trucks and that such an easily avoidable situation is a waste of the fire department’s resources.
According to Cook, it takes firefighters about three hours to deal with a fire like this. And if the fire occurs at the garbage dump, the fire can potentially last for days. So while no one was hurt, it still would have been better to avoid this entirely.
Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time that the Xbox brand has been associated with fires lately. When the Xbox Series X console first launched, videos started spreading online that claimed it was overheating and even producing smoke. It was later revealed that the vast majority of these videos, if not all of them, were hoaxes created by people blowing vape smoke through their Xbox Series X vents.
Similarly to the Xbox Series X smoking issues, this particular incident is not really Microsoft’s fault. After all, the Xbox Series X smoking issues were a hoax, and this problem came about due to improper disposal of electronics; people don’t need to worry about their Xbox 360 controllers spontaneously combusting in their homes or anything like that.
Not to mention Xbox owners can simply remove the batteries from their Xbox controllers if they do decide to throw them in the trash. Even the Xbox Series X controller still uses disposable AA batteries instead of going the rechargeable battery route like PlayStation and Nintendo.
Source: Planet Radio (via Pure Xbox)
Photo by Max Kukurudziak on Unsplash
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