Luckily the peep-a-beepers caused minimal damages, injuries and few deaths, and in proportion to what burning and/or light explosions that a short-circuiting might trigger. The sealed batteries may burn and/or may explode if ignited. Remote hacking is a possibility.
The walking-talker explosions were stronger. Someone tampered physically with the hardware.
The Hizzibillies have many enemies, and these attacks show the vulnerability of the organisation.