Cellphone battery sparks fire, evacuations on Southwest flight at Denver International Airport

A Southwest Airlines flight at Denver International Airport was evacuated safely Friday morning after a cellphone battery ignited. It happened on board Flight 3316 before 7 a.m. as the plane was getting ready to depart for the William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. 

According to Southwest, the aircraft was still at the gate when the fire started. The crew was able to extinguish a seat fire caused by the burning cellphone. The passenger who had the phone suffered burns and was treated by medical personnel.

Southwest told CBS News Colorado that there were 108 passengers on board when the fire started. During the evacuation, passengers in the back of the aircraft used the rear emergency slides to get out of the plane and those in the front exited through the front door. One passenger suffered minor injuries during the evacuation.

The incident is being investigated and Southwest released this statement, "Southwest's Customer Care Team is working to accommodate the passengers on another aircraft to their original destination of Houston. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of its Customers and Employees."

The FAA released this statement to CBS News Colorado: Battery transportation safety is a priority for the FAA and we provide extensive resources for passengers. The FAA recommends that passengers keep cell phones and other devices nearby in the cabin to quickly access them if necessary. Flight crews are trained to recognize and respond to lithium battery fires in the cabin. Passengers should notify the flight crew immediately if their lithium battery or device is overheating, expanding, smoking or burning.

According to a CBS News Investigation published last year, similar incidents have been happening much more frequently in the skies over the United States. The FAA verifies the number of lithium-ion battery fires jumped more than 42% in the last five years.