Apple 'covered up iPod fire incidents'

Seattle's KIRO7 News obtained the report from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission using freedom-of-information laws, but it took a seven-month battle after Apple repeatedly claimed the report should be exempt from public release.

KIRO7 were tipped off last November after one Apple customer discovered a burn on her chest the size of a coin after going for a jog with her brand new iPod shuffle.

"At first I thought, 'how the heck did I get burned?'," customer Jamie Balderas said.

"Then I remembered that I had my iPod right there."

She contacted Apple, even sending photos of her burns, but was told it was just an isolated incident and that she would not be able to access documentation on how many times similar occurrences had happened.

Other cases in the report include an iPod overheating and causing damage to a home, another that burst into flames while inside an Atlanta man's pocket, and even one iPod that caught fire onboard a ship carrying 2000 people.

The incidents involved both old and brand new iPod Shuffles, Nanos and the Classic version of the device.

The Safety Commission said action would not be taken because with more than 175 million iPods sold, "the number of incidents is extremely small in relation to the number of products produced, making the injury list very low".

In August last year Apple was forced to replace faulty batteries in iPod Nanos in Japan after the government issued a fire hazard warning on the devices. (Read more: Apple to replace faulty iPod batteries)

Government officials in Japan issued the warning after 17 reported cases of overheating, in which two users suffered minor burns.

Apple declined to comment on the Safety Commission report.

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