A US man says his iPod Nano caught fire in his trousers.

The nearly two year-old iPod caught fire in the pocket of Danny Williams at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport where he is employed, according to Williams' mother, Elaine. The flames lasted 15 seconds and fire reached up to his chest, she said in a telephone interview.

Apple representatives were not immediately available for comment, but the company has since sent a packet to Danny to return the iPod Nano, she said.

Glossy paper in his pocket may have shielded him from getting burned by the fire, Danny Williams said in local news reports. "If TSA had come by and seen me smoking, they could have honestly thought I was a terrorist," Williams is quoted as saying.

The iPod contains a lithium-ion battery, which has a history of catching fire in laptops. Since December 2005 these batteries have been blamed for meltdowns and fires in several computers.

Last year several manufacturers, including Apple, Dell, and Lenovo Group were forced to recall millions of the batteries.