Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company paid a claim to a homeowner whose place got roasty-toasty because of an overheating Nintendo DS AC adapter. Not sure what they paid out, but the insurance company is seeking $236,000, plus interest, court costs, dinner at Ruby Tuesday's, etc.

Just so you know, not all product liability lawsuits are filed by shiftless chislers represented by two-bit ambulance chasers. Sometimes big corporations get in on the act, too. And naturally, it's an insurance company, which probably figured it couldn't get out of paying this claim and then went looking for some way to make someone else pay. And bingo, they saw that Ninty previously conducted a product recall because of overheating issues.

The [DS] was defective in design, manufacture and/or because it failed to warn consumers as to dangers associated with it... due to defects existing within the Product which caused a risk of overheating and fire, the Product was recalled by Nintendo.

Nintendo Sued for $236K Over Faulty Adapter [GamePolitics]

Firefighters say the console was left on for as long as four days with a notebook possible blocking its air vents. The original Xbox also still had the power cord which was recalled by Microsoft in 2003.

The family's apartment, which was above the cafe they ran, apparently isn't covered by their insurance so the insurance company is only paying to fix the business and not replace personal possessions ruined by smoke.

The family said they considered suing Microsoft for the fire, but can't afford the legal fees and are afraid they may not win. Good call. As fire experts, and the chief of the local fire department, point out electronic devices shouldn't be left on for such an extended time.

Grand Blanc Fire Chief Jim Harmes said videogame consoles and laptop computers can generate a lot of heat, creating a fire risk.

"If you're not using it, turn it off," said Harmes.

Xbox blamed in Clio fire; device left on too long, investigators say [The Flint Journal]

We start with Carl Olson of Little Rock. I would call him a gamer but I'm not sure what game he was playing, as he tells us that his 360 had already gone into Rings O' Death mode. Maybe he was enjoying 30 seconds of startup screens, I don't know.

Anyway, instead of sending his bricked 360 in to be replaced, he left it plugged in, apparently. I thought the super-scorchy power supply issues were limited to the original Xbox only. But this guy's 360 power unit melted down and barbecued his house.

Now, I don't think anyone's home burning (to the tune of $10K in damage, insert joke about Arkansas property values here) is anything to treat flip. But the fire department called this guy out for not giving his console and the power supply enough space to dissipate heat. Add to that the fact that it was, by his own admission, smoked by RRoD and — still turned on? Can a power supply connected to a machine turned off still produce that much heat? I have no idea what to make of this.

Oh, and the Arkansas TV station reporting on this helpfully links to the original Xbox power supply recall of 2003. And we know he's playing a 360, not the original by the photos of his charred 360 titles. (Looks like MLB 2K6. So that's another $1.40 on top of the damages.)

Tons of sites are reporting this, Joystiq included, but my audit trail is below:

Gamers Beware: Xbox Could Be a Fire Hazard [KTHV Little Rock, via Kombo.com, via Newlaunches.com]

Child Burned By Video Game In Pocket [ClickOn Detroit]

The fire that ravaged the Human Head Studios' office resulted in no injuries and won't, it appears, delay the production of their current title.

Hello, everyone.

As many of you know, the office building in which Human Head Studios is located suffered a significant fire early on Friday, April 20th.

We are relieved to report that no one was injured in the fire, and though we suffered some equipment and furniture loss due to smoke and water, we suffered no significant data loss, as the brunt of the fire was located in another part of the building.

We're excited to let our concerned friends know that this speed bump won't keep us from continuing our development of great new award-winning product. We will be relocating to a new office space for the short term, and we expect to be back in full development very soon.

We are working to have email communication back up later this week. Postal communication may still be sent to our old address and will be forwarded to us. You can still reach us by phone as well.

We're very proud of the great team at Human Head, which has come together to clean up, clear out, and start rebuilding since word spread Friday morning,.

We would like to thank everybody for their understanding, encouragement, and patience as we recover.

Thank you,

Human Head Studios

While this sounds like it might not be a big deal, dealing with this sort of thing is going to be a big stresser for the entire team. Brian Crecente

Important Update: A Fire at the Head [Human Head Studios, thanks Stephen]

The building that houses game developer Human Head Studios, the creators of Prey, was the victim of a huge fire yesterday morning in it's hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. While there are no reported injuries, the report from Channel3000.com reports that the building, which houses several other businesses in addition to Human Head, suffered major damage. The majority of the fire seemed to be mostly contained in the back half of the building but it is unknown whether Human Head itself was affected. Hopefully they managed to escape unscathed, but the damage sounds pretty extensive. Until more is known, all we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best. Good luck, Human Head, our thoughts are with you. Flynn De Marco

Massive Fire Destroys East Side Building [Channel3000.com - Thanks, Chris]

When you can't blame video games for violence, blame them for other things. Things like, I dunno, burning down houses. Because that's SCARY. And when you can't find a recent example of this, search around for old ones. Things that happened three years ago? No problem! As long as it happened sometime before Reagan left office, it's a-okay.

Local CBS4 news in Boston pulls the fear monger card by reporting on a three year-old event in which an original Xbox was blamed for causing a house fire. Crap, three years ago, I didn't even know what a blog was! Onward to shoddy TV journalism:

The channel reports that back then Microsoft had to replace 14 million power cords due to overheating problems. The Steckler family missed the memo, torched their house and filed suit with Microsoft last July. So, why the hizzy heck is this station reporting this now? From its website:

There are newer, more powerful game systems now hitting the market.

But there are hundreds of older Xboxes still selling all around the Internet, for about $150...

So if you're shopping for a pre-owned Xbox this holiday season, be sure to ask if it has Microsoft's' new replacement power cord.

Yes, some Xboxes got hot. Yes, this family's house burned down. Is there a definite connection? Not certain. But, reporting months or years later to stir up fear? That is. Moral of this story: Don't buy anything related to video games because they will burn you. Buy safe things that don't use electricity, things like washboards and spoons. GOOD MORAL. Brian Ashcraft

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb [CBS4, Thanks Dan!]

Our capitalistic little brother site The Consumerist kicked us out of bed, sending word of a panel at the upcoming Austin Games Conference with Michael Dell. The young CEO's company has been feeling the heat of late as Dell laptops continue to explode and burst into flames. Regardless, Mike will be in Austin, bravely facing the masses. And what's his talk called? Yep, "Fireside Chat." Brian Ashcraft

More Here [The Consumerist]

An arson last week was sparked (get it, get it?) by a fight over an Xbox, according to Seattle police.

Two people got into an argument about who owned the console and it ended up getting thrown through a window and into the front yard. The fight eventually broke up, but a bit later one of the allegedly came back and set the house on fire. See, it's not just the faulty Xbox power cord that starts fires, sometimes it's the faulty gamers. Brian Crecente

Take 2's office on Broadway was hit by a five alarm fire last night. The publisher's office was apparently hit very badly, though both Rockstar and the corporate offices were unaffected because they aren't in the building.

The side of the office where the suits live was hardest hit. Apparently the office is home to tons of original and extremely valuable art from people like Andy Warhol, Damian Hirst and Keith Haring. No word if they were damanged.

The fire started about 10 p.m. Saturday. Officials believe it began in the first floor or perhaps the ceiling of the basement. Six firefighters and one other person suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire is still undetermined.

Don't read anything into that last line, they always say that until they're absolutely sure.

Fire Rips Through Historic SoHo Building [ABC Local]