Hoverboard ignites in bedroom and damages a South Carolina home, officials say
A bedroom was filled with smoke when fire fighters put out an apartment fire Wednesday morning. When the smoke cleared, they found a hoverboard had started the fire, officials said.
The Charleston, South Carolina, family was able to escape the fire, according to the fire department.
The fire damaged the bedroom and caused smoke damage throughout the apartment, the Charleston Fire Department said. One person was treated on the scene for minor smoke inhalation, the department said.
The fire department said the hoverboard had just been taken off a charger before it ignited at about 7 a.m. Hoverboards are self-balancing boards with two wheels and no handlebars that became popular in recent years.
The Charleston Fire Marshall investigated the fire and confirmed the hoverboard was responsible. “The manufacture of the hoverboard involved was not readily identifiable and investigators have not been able to determine if this device may have been included in past recalls,” the department said.
There have been more than 250 cases of fires or overheating hoverboards since 2015, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The federal commission said it “estimates there have been 13 burn injuries, three smoke inhalation injuries and more than $4 million in property damage related to hoverboards.”
There was a wave of hoverboard recalls in 2016 and 2017 because they were catching fire.
In March 2017, a hoverboard started a house fire in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and two girls, 2 and 10, died in the blaze, according to the CPSC.
The Charleston Fire Department recommends people with hoverboards check to make sure it is not on the recall list.
The CPCC said people should only charge hoverboards when they are there to watch in case it does start a fire.
