HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A homeowner is speaking out after video captured an electric wheelchair bursting into flames in the driveway of a home in Hollywood.
“I was still kind of asleep, and the Ring [camera] will show, I brought it out pretty slowly, I was kind of looking at it like, imminent danger?” said Alexandra Anaya, the homeowner. “And eight seconds was what separated me from me and my face getting torched, or my house being burnt down with my sister in it.”
She woke up just after 6 a.m. and took the wheelchair outside after hearing a clicking sound from the lithium battery of the wheelchair, which was hot.
“Went up to the wheelchair, and I unplugged it, and it still kept making this weird clicking sound. I put my hand to it, and it was hot. I Googled it, and it said that it’s imminent danger,” she said.
She said she was lucky to be alive, and believed someone was watching over her.
“I lost my mom recently, and something told me maybe she woke me, I don’t know,” she said. “Absolutely, she’s looking out for me.”
The video from a Ring doorbell camera showed Anaya running away seconds before the wheelchair exploded and burst into flames.
In the aftermath, the wheelchair was left charred after the blaze, with a burn spot from where the blaze started.
Hollywood Fire Rescue said that she was using a non manufactured charger which can cause batteries to overheat, and was recently bought second hand.
“Bought this from a thrift store last week to give it to a family member, and that’s the thing, there’s a big difference of lithium and lead batteries. These need upkeep, you can’t just throw them in a corner, and just, when you buy them second hand?” she said. “Probably charge it, the first time, outside.”
Fire crews also said she did exactly what was recommended: to stop using the device when hearing a clicking or popping noise.
Officials also recommended to not leave lithium batteries charged unattended and to check for excess heat.
No one was reported injured.
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