Two Reports Surface about Apple Store Repair Shop Fires Related to Batteries." Today we're learning of a new incident, this time a in Hong Kong Apple Store.

According to South China Morning Post, "Emergency personnel were sent to the outlet in the International Finance Centre mall on Harbour View Road, Central after a police report was made at 12.07pm.

A police spokeswoman said. 'The two staff members were repairing the phone battery at the time it emitted smoke. The pair complained of feeling unwell after inhaling smoke.'

Store employees extinguished the source of the smoke before emergency crews arrived. No evacuation was needed.

An Apple spokesman said that 'It was a minor incident. The store quickly resumed normal operations and no customers were affected." He added that the company was still investigating the details of the incident, including whether the mobile phone battery being replaced was part of a worldwide battery replacement program for its flagship iPhone product."

A second report covering the story added that the employees were sent to hospital. In an update to their original story, South China Morning Post has now added that "The two men were taken conscious to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam for treatment."

On January 13th, Reuters reported that "Four U.S. House Republicans, including the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, on Friday wrote Apple Inc (AAPL.O) chief executive Tim Cook asking him to answer questions about its disclosure that it slowed older iPhones with flagging batteries. The letter also said they were concerned about reports that an iPhone battery overheated and began to emit smoke in Switzerland."

Apple fans in the millions are likely to get their iPhone batteries replaced sometime this year due to Apple's battery replacement offer and small fires could be an ongoing problem Apple due to higher than normal demand for fast battery replacement service.

Source: patentlyapple