Amos, if you short a 1.5 volt cell -- even a little AAA type like you often get in these things -- through a strand of copper wire, you'll see it get red- or even white-hot in a second (and probably burn your fingers pretty badly); think of a torch bulb. You can scale the temperature down a bit for the currents that run through a remote (and a modern one won't be a danger anyway), but bear in mind they are only intended to operate in short bursts of under a second for each keypress. If you hold a key down for a long time the temperature will have time to increase, and I can easily believe that the early ones could get pretty warm. We're talking about a closely confined space between two heat-insulating flammable objects (non-fire resistant seat cushions), where the temp can build quite a lot. Bear in mind too that any domestic fires start from things that smoulder for a long time at a relatively low temperature before the heat can build up to combustion point.

Sorry about the lecture! All Ireaaly want isfor someoe to tell me I didn't dream it, it realy was on the news.

Steve