Two people were evacuated from an apartment in Ostrava, Czech Republic, following a fire that was probably caused by a fault with an electric scooter. Local services publish photos of the destroyed vehicle. What is the most common cause of electric scooter fires?
A fire broke out in an apartment block in Výškovice, Ostrava, on Monday evening. The fire brigade evacuated two people from the apartment where flames broke out. A day later, the fire brigade of the Moravian-Silesian Voivodeship published on the website X (formerly Twitter) photos of the intervention, including the damaged electric scooter, indicating that its fault probably caused the fire. Losses were initially estimated at 1.5 million Czech crowns (approx. PLN 285,000 – ed.).
Jakub Kozák, spokesman for the Moravian-Silesian Fire Department, quoted by the Czech broadcaster’s website irozhlas.cz, pointed out that firefighters extinguished the fire approximately 30 minutes after arriving at the scene, and apart from two people evacuated from the apartment, several people “voluntarily” left the building under police escort. He added that the damaged electric scooter was taken to the police station.
An electric scooter caused a fire – reasons
Similar incidents occur all over the world. In August, the BBC reported that fires break out in London homes every other day caused by “improperly constructed chargers and batteries for electric bicycles and electric scooters.” Experts quoted by the British broadcaster warned that “a cheap, poorly made or damaged battery or the use of the wrong charger can lead to violent fires that can destroy a room in a matter of minutes.”
Electric scooterShutterstock
Fire brigade of the Moravian-Silesian Voivodeship, irozhlas.cz, BBC
Main photo source: Fire brigade of the Moravian-Silesian Voivodeship