RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) – A South Florida family had to evacuate their house after they said a hoverboard sparked a fire.
A grandmother wants to warn others about buying the product after the fire it caused burned 10 people out of the Riviera Beach house.
The bedroom of the house is now a charred mess.
“I couldn’t believe it, and I can understand how people die in fires,” said victim Cheryl Wade. “It started so quickly, it just spread so quickly.”
During the worst of it, Wade and one of her eight grandchildren were actually in the room as it burned. She said the fire started shortly after the child tried to charge her hoverboard.
“Late tonight, my granddaughter decided she wanted to charge her hoverboard,” Wade said. “She plugged it in, and 10 minutes later, it just started smoking. The fire just burst up, and I jumped up. I was trying to wake her up, and then I’m trying to put it out with her covers.”
Fire investigators have not said that the toy is the actual cause yet, but they do credit the grandmother of 10 for keeping the fire to the rear of the home she was renting by closing the bedroom door.
“We were trapped in the room because where it was charging was right by the door, so that was the only source of getting out besides the window behind my bed,” she said.
The family is now in a hotel nearby, thanks to the American Red Cross.
When or if they can return to the home they had been renting is not yet known.
The investigation into what caused the fire continues and while Wade is sure the hoverboard is to blame, authorities are not ready to close the book on this case, yet.
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