In the early morning hours, an electric hissing filled the living room of a Bramley council house. The sound was loud enough to wake Jade Robinson, 33, who had fallen asleep on her sofa a few hours prior while her partner and newborn baby slept upstairs.
The noise was coming from the corner of the room, where a hoverboard segway was recharging its battery. Just minutes after Jade had heard the sound, she saw sparks flying and the room filled with smoke.
She shouted for her boyfriend Jack Liversidge, 29, who hurried downstairs with their six-week-old daughter. The family rushed out of the house as flames climbed the living room curtains.
According to Jade, only once the family were outside the property did the fire alarms fitted by Leeds City Council finally sound.
The young family has hit out at the authority’s response to the electrical fire on June 17th, in Poplar Way, accusing contractors of saying the scorched property was safe to move back into.
However, the council has given a different account of events, insisting that the fire alarms were raised by the family “before the system activated”, and that the authority agrees the house is currently unsafe to live in, offering them alternative accommodation in the meantime.
Jade, a courier for a delivery company, described the fire as “horrendous”.
She said: “I was outside with my newborn baby watching the curtains melt and my windows crack.”
“It all happened in the space of about five minutes. By the time the fire brigade came, the living room had gone and the fire was working its way up the steps.
“The fire alarm only went off after we were outside. If I hadn’t been sleeping downstairs, we wouldn’t have had a chance. It was scary.”
Leaving items charging overnight can be a big risk to starting fires. Popular items like e-bikes and e-scooters have started numerous fires after they have been left to charge overnight.
