SHAWNEE, Kan. -- Firefighters were called to a home in the 8900 block of Rene Wednesday morning after a laptop computer burst into flames.

Paul Kupperman said his wife, Juli, was at home reading e-mail on a different computer when the Sony Vaio laptop computer caught fire.

"Flames started to shoot out from all different directions," Juli Kupperman said.

She put out the fire with a fire extinguisher and called him at work to tell him what happened.

"(The laptop) burst into flames again while she was on the phone with me. So I dropped the phone and called 911 and started for home. She had it put out on the driveway by the time everyone got here," Paul Kupperman said.

Kupperman said his laptop computer was turned off, but was charging at the time of the fire. He said the only damage was a smudge on the wall and fire extinguisher dust on the furniture.

Juli Kupperman said she's learned her lesson.

"I would say don't leave your laptop plugged in when you're not right there with them," she said.

Laptop fires are not new. Earlier this month, Dell recalled 4.1 million notebook computer batteries because they can overheat and catch fire. The batteries were made by Sony and placed in notebooks that were shipped between April 2004 and July 18.

The Kuppermans' laptop used a Sony lithium-ion battery, which is a different battery than the one recalled.

For more about Dell's recall, visit their Web site or call 1-866-342-0011.