The Office of Fire Prevention and Control has become aware of a dangerous social media trend know as the “Chromebook Trend” or “Chromebook Challenge” that encourages students to insert lead or metal items like paperclips, pushpins, aluminum foil and mechanical pencils into the USB port of their Chromebook forcing an electrical short circuit. This action can result in the failure of the lithium-ion battery in the device, posing a serious fire risk and the production of large quantities of toxic and flammable vapor.
As OFPC has become aware of several of these events across New York State in the past few days, we are requesting that any fire department that has responded to this type of incident notify us at batteryemergencies@dhses.ny.gov. Please include a basic overview of the incident and any information that pertains to this social media trend.
As a reminder, OFPC is continuing to track any lithium-ion battery emergency related incident that fire departments have responded to. Any relevant information can be provided to the same email address above.
Please see the Informational Bulletin for guidance on recommendations when responding to these incidents. OFPC is available for Technical Assistance and can be reached at 518-474-6746.
See bulletin here: FDguidance-chromebook