Yes, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 remains a hot item. In more ways than one.

Little Rock, Ark., media are reporting this week that a local gamer now has a singed house following a fire blamed on the power supply cord to his Xbox. Firefighters investigating the blaze say the cord was found pinched between the wall and the Xbox power brick, which tends to get very hot during extended game play.

The fire caused several thousand dollars worth of damage. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.

Though Xbox 360s and their power bricks usually run hot, they haven’t posed much of a widespread fire risk to date. The first Xboxes — forerunners to the current console — were said to have faulty cords that Microsoft recalled way back in 2005. Those cords emitted sparks in a few instances when they overheated, and sparked a few lawsuits in response.

This latest incident appears to be an isolated one, but just to be on the safe side, please pull your Xbox 360’s power cord free of any encumbrances behind the console and keep it a fair distance from the power brick. Microsoft has had enough headaches with the system. Do your part to prevent more of them.