Family escapes James Island apartment fire after hoverboard catches on fire

ByLive 5 Web Staff|January 15, 2020 at 12:36 PM EST - Updated January 15 at 12:36 PM

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A family of three has been displaced after an apartment fire on James Island Tuesday morning.

Just before 7 a.m., firefighters responded to a two-story apartment building on Central Park Road and found a significant amount of smoke and a small fire inside an apartment.

There was heavy smoke damage throughout the apartment after a small fire was put out.

“The residents discovered a fire in a bedroom near a hoverboard, the hallway smoke alarm then activated as the residents evacuated and called 911,” Charleston fire department spokesman Mike Julazadeh said. “Investigators reviewed the incident and verified the fire originated at the hoverboard in the bedroom, which was removed from the charger just prior to the incident.”

Firefighters weren’t able to identify the hoverboard manufacturer and couldn’t say if it had been involved in past recalls.

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Photo: Charleston Fire Department