Russian in hospital after BTC mining operation sets apartment ablaze

A Russian man is nursing burn wounds after his BTC block reward mining operation caught fire and set his apartment ablaze. He joins a growing list of casualties from mining-related fire accidents.

According to a local report, the man—whose name has been withheld—had set up the mining operation in his seven-bedroom apartment in St. Petersburg, Russia. The report by 78 News indicates that the fire broke out at 10 p.m., with emergency services responding shortly after.

The blaze took 16 firefighters and four engines 40 minutes to put out. The BTC miner managed to get away with his life and is currently nursing burns to the back, neck and hands, according to reports.

The St. Petersburg man becomes the latest victim of BTC mining equipment catching fire. In December 2019, a garage in the northwest city of Volgoda in Russia burnt down after a mining operation caught fire. As a local outlet reported, the mining equipment had overheated and caused the blaze. All the equipment burned to the ground, but fortunately, it didn’t spread to neighboring garages.

In yet another incident last year, a Russian citizen in the city of Artyom caused a massive fire after his mining rig caught fire. The man had set up his operation in the attic of his house, connecting several power supplies to ensure consistent uptime. Inevitably, the equipment overheated and caused a fire.

Local outlets at the time claimed that the damage caused by the fire was over 53 million rubles ($700,395). Of this, $397,000 was a result of the damage to seven houses, which the fire burned to the ground.

Following the fire, the owner of the mining farm fled the scene and hasn’t been traced since.

Away from Russia, a British teenager suffered burns after his computer overheat from digital currency block reward mining. The 18-year-old’s computer was hacked and the attackers began mining digital currencies without his knowledge.

See also: TAAL’s Jerry Chan presentation at CoinGeek Live on The Shift from Bitcoin “Miners” to “Transaction Processors”