Florida man claims his Galaxy Note 7 exploded, set his car on fire

Florida man is claiming his car was completely torched after a five-day-old Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone allegedly exploded while charging.

According to Nathan Dornacher’s Facebook page, he left his Note 7 smartphone charging in his car while unloading purchases from a garage sale. When he went to go retrieve the phone, he said his vehicle was engulfed in flames.

READ MORE: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall: What Canadian consumers need to know

“I head back out to the car to grab my phone which was on the charger, go to open the door and see flames inside… open the door and it’s engulfed,” Dornacher wrote.

“His general impression was the fire was in the interior of the dashboard somewhere,” said police, who attended the scene. “The owner is under the belief that it may have been related to a cellphone issue. He is claiming that its the phone that’s been recently recalled.”

Dornacher’s Facebook post has seen been removed. However, a Samsung spokesperson told Global News the company is aware of the incident and is investigating.

“We are aware of the incident and we are working with Mr. Dornacher to  investigate his case and ensure we do everything we can for him. Consumer safety is Samsung’s highest priority,” read a statement issued by a Samsung spokesperson.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We are aware of the incident and we are working with Mr. Dornacher to  investigate his case and ensure we do everything we can for him. Consumer safety is Samsung's highest priority," read a statement issued by a Samsung spokesperson.

The spokesperson added that the company is working with Health Canada to create a “a corrective action plan” and urges anyone who bought a Note 7 smartphone to exchange it through the Canadian Product Exchange announced on Tuesday.

Last week, the smartphone maker issued a global recall after dozens of reports of Note 7 batteries exploding or catching fire.

Note 7s were pulled from shelves in 10 countries, including Canada,  just two weeks after the product’s launch.

READ MORE: Samsung recalls Galaxy Note 7 smartphones due to exploding batteries

There have been 35 confirmed instances of Note 7s catching fire or exploding, but no reports of injuries related to the problem.

After complaints surfaced online, Samsung found that a battery cell made by one of its two battery suppliers caused the phone to catch fire. However, the company said it has not found a way to tell exactly which phones may endanger users out of the 2.5 million Note 7s already sold globally. It estimated that about 24 out of 1 million units may have a faulty battery.

On Thursday, U.S. aviation safety officials took the extraordinary step of warning airline passengers not to turn on or charge a new-model Samsung smartphone during flights due to safety concerns.

This isn’t the first time Samsung has had problems with exploding smartphone batteries.

READ MORE: U.S. aviation officials warn passengers not to use Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones on flights

In February 2013, South Korean fire officials said a man suffered second-degree burns after the lithium-ion battery from a 2011 Galaxy Note phone caught fire in his pants pocket.

Later that summer Chinese news outlets alleged that a Samsung Galaxy S4 was responsible for a house fire after a man’s phone burst into flames while he was using it.

In December 2013, Vancouver-area resident Richard Wygand told Global News he woke up in the middle of the night to find his Samsung Galaxy S4 – which was plugged into its charger – smoking and producing sparks.