A320 First Officer reported a cabin smoke event from a passenger cell phone charger prior to landing. The cabin crew contained the malfunctioning device in water; the plane landed safely with no injuries; some charring to a passenger seat frame; and cabin furnishings.

Narrative

While in flight from ZZZ1 to ZZZ; with approximately 15 minutes prior to landing; a passenger's self contained cell phone charger had a thermal runaway and caught fire. The inflight crew notified the flight crew of the situation; and the Captain instructed the inflight crew to extinguish the fire. The Captain requested priority handling with ATC and the flight was cleared to proceed directly to ZZZ. The inflight crew successfully extinguished the fire within seconds by containing the device in the garbage bin of the forward lavatory and then submerging the device with water. The device remained submerged with water in the garbage bin of the forward lavatory for the remainder of the flight. The inflight crew advised the Captain that the fire had been extinguished but the cabin had filled with smoke as a result of the fire. The flight crew performed the Smoke Removal procedure per the QRH. The smoke was only present in the cabin and it did not enter the cockpit at any point. The flight crew was successful in removing the smoke from the cabin. The flight crew received multiple LAV SMOKE ECAM warnings as a result of the smoldering device being placed in the forward lavatory. The Captain issued a briefing to the inflight crew and made a PA to the passengers. Dispatch was notified by ACARS of the situation. The Captain and inflight crew remained in constant communication throughout the remainder of the flight regarding the condition of the device. The flight landed on runway XX in ZZZ; taxied to gate XX and was meet by Crash Fire Rescue personnel who removed the garbage bin containing the submerged device from the aircraft. The passengers deplaned normally through the jet bridge. There were no reported injuries to any passengers or crew as a result of the fire. There was some charring on the seat frame in row 4 ABC and melted plastic on the aisle carpet where the fire took place. The aircraft maintenance log book updated with the appropriate maintenance discrepancies. ZZZ Technician Operations addressed the damage to the aircraft cabin and returned the aircraft into service.