NORTH LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A home in North Lauderdale went up in flames after, officials said, a hoverboard that was left charging caught fire.
North Lauderdale Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the blaze along the 6700 block of Boulevard of Champions, just after 1 a.m., Sunday.
Officials said the hoverboard had been left charging overnight in a bedroom when it started to overheat and ignited.
Cellphone video captured firefighters battling the flames at the residence.
“My house is on fire right now,” a woman is heard saying in the video.
Dante Fils-Aime, the 13-year-old owner of the hoverboard, returned to his house on Monday to further survey the damage.
The teen said he’d left his hoverboard charging in his sister’s room.
“And then it just explode,” said Fils-Aime.
The home sustained significant damage, especially to the ceiling. Cellphone video captured the extent of the damage to the interior of the residence.
The blaze does not come as a shock to those in the disaster recovery business.
“I said, ‘Wow, it’s a very common thing,'” said Juan Matos with Disaster Services LLC.
Matos said he and his crew have met multiple families who had no idea a fire hazard was charging inside their homes.
“I see fires every day, but one of the most common ones that I’ve seen is definitely the hoverboard,” he said.
Fils-Aime’s family, including his mother and grandmother, managed to escape the fire, but they lost just about everything. What wasn’t burned is now covered in soot.
“The stuff around it caught on fire first. That’s how it got so big,” said Fils-Aime.
Now he and his family are looking for another place to live.
Fils-Aime’s mother is a single mother of four who is also caring for her elderly mother. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help them get back on their feet.
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