A Langley family is blaming tech giant Apple for a fire that destroyed their home.
Cathy and Ian Finley say the fire was sparked by an iPhone 6 that was charging on a chair in their living room.
“I came home and put my phone on charge in our house, went off to feed the goats and 20 minutes later I came back and there was smoke billowing from the roof of our house,” Cathy said.
After a year of negotiating with their insurer, the Finleys have been awarded a $600,000 payout, which is going towards the construction of a new house.
The Finleys say they’ve lost a great deal of income due to the fire and want Apple, the iPhone’s manufacturer, to compensate them.
“We simply don’t have the time and the resources to get this farm back up and running again,” Ian said.
In an email to Global News, an Apple spokesperson said they’re looking into the customer’s claim but they have yet to be able to analyze the device.
The Langley Fire Department said the cause of the fire is undetermined. The iPhone is being tested and results have not come back yet.
“I don’t think they can say that this is the cause of the fire for legal reasons, but there was certainly nothing else in the vicinity that could have possibly caused it. They ruled out everything else,” Cathy said.
The family has made the tough decision to shut down the business and most likely sell the farm unless they can settle the dispute with Apple in their favour.
Cathy has another iPhone 6.
“My iPhone that burned down my house was insured and they make you take the exact same phone,” she said.
— With files from Geoff Hastings