Gaming Mouse Blaze Threatens User's Apartment

Among all PC peripherals, a mouse is the least likely to ignite. Yet, redditor lommelinn faced a terrifying ordeal when their gaming mouse caught fire on their desk while their PC was in sleep mode, nearly destroying their apartment.

Sharing on reddit, lommelinn recounted: “I detected smoke this morning and rushed to my room to find my computer mouse engulfed in flames. Thick black smoke filled the space. I managed to put out the fire, but inhaled a lot of smoke, and my room is now covered in black soot, including my modular synth. Thankfully, we avoided a catastrophe, but the fact this could happen is alarming. It’s an older wired, optical mouse from Gigabyte.”

The device in question, a Gigabyte M6880X, is an older wired gaming mouse, powered via USB 2.0 at 5V and 0.5A, with no internal battery. Its reported failure has sparked widespread concern.

Photos shared by the user reveal the mouse’s top rear panel completely melted, while the underside remained largely intact. The cause of the localized damage remains unclear. Additional images show a scorched desk and mousepad.

My Gigabyte mouse caught fire and almost burned down my apartment
byu/lommelinn inpcmasterrace

Gigabyte responded to lommelinn’s post in the reddit thread, stating it had initiated an investigation:

“Hi Everyone,

“We are aware of the incident reported by lommelinn involving the M6880X gaming mouse. Customer safety is our utmost priority, and we are thoroughly investigating this matter. Our team has contacted lommelinn to provide support and examine the issue in detail. We appreciate the community’s patience as we resolve this.”

“Best,< habenbr>The GIGABYTE Team.”

In a follow-up reddit post, lommelinn expressed shock at the incident. “My PC was in sleep mode,” they noted. “I tested the USB port with a voltage meter, and it’s functioning normally. I have no idea how this happened.”