ABERDEEN, Md. — A fire spreading through a living room in a house on Baltimore Street in Aberdeen only took firefighters 10 minutes to extinguish, but by then, the damage was done, and investigators say an improper charging cord on an e-bike was the culprit.
“It just started popping and it wouldn’t stop and even when you thought it was out, it ignited again and I don’t know. It just moved so fast,” the lone occupant at the time told us, though she did not want to be identified.
E-bike sparks house fire in Aberdeen
Both the victim and a neighbor had tried using household fire extinguishers to no avail, which comes as no surprise to Master Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire.
“These are extremely volatile situations,” said Alkire, “These batteries, you know, once they start off-gassing and go into thermal runaway, it’s very difficult to put those e-bikes out or any type of lithium-ion battery out.”
Ironically, the mother was trying to do something nice for her four children when she accidentally set the stage for this disaster.
“My mother passed at the end of January and so this bike was hers and I kept it in honor of her,” the victim told us, “I want to surprise my kids with riding this bike today.”
Hours earlier, Alkire says a tool battery charger ignited a garage fire on Whitt Road in Kingsville where a mother and newborn baby had to evacuate.
He shares these tips for trying to keep your home safe.
“If you lose your charging cord, contact the manufacturer and request one from them. Make sure you can charge these outside. Put them outside your home. This, along with any heavy-duty tools, put them outside your house. Charge these items, these devices outside.”
It’s a lesson both families learned the hard way.
“Just the grace of God,” the Aberdeen victim said as she tried to hold back tears, “The grace of God my kids weren’t here. Just the grace of God.”
