Hearing ‘loud bangs’ made a family flee their house in an attempt to save their lives. Green watch from Nuneaton Fire Station raced to the scene. The fire was in the Grove Farm area of town last night (July 29th).
They found the family had managed to get out of their house on Poachers Close, Nuneaton. But a fire was raging inside by the time they arrived. This fire was caused by an electric bike.
“The e-bike was inside the property and the owner was showering when they heard loud bangs which alerted them to the intense fire,” a fire station spokesperson said. Fortunately, the e-bike fire did not spread to other rooms.
However, fire and water damage was caused to rooms downstairs in the house. There was some smoke damage to the hallways. Fortunately, none of the family, including children, were injured.
The fire station explained: “This e-bike wasn’t on charge but the owners had said it had started to not function properly, sometimes with lithium-ion batteries you can get thermal runaway if the battery becomes damaged or overheats.”
“Lithium battery fires can spread quickly out of control, and within seconds start a large fire they burn intensely and are difficult to extinguish. Many of these fires are caused by incompatible chargers, modifications to e-bikes, or faulty or counterfeit products which are purchased online. This includes chargers, lithium batteries and conversion kits for e-bikes.”
The crew from the Newtown Road-based station urged all e-bike owners to look out for danger signs with batteries. These include heat, swelling battery, strange noises, an odd smell or a failure to fully charge or longer charge times. These can all be signs that a battery is failing.
“Anyone wishing to get a free safe and well check with our crews please get in touch and we will contact you and make an appointment and fit free smoke detection where required,” the station spokesperson added. Anyone who would like a check should visit the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service website here.
