Firefighters were called shortly before 2.00am to a property in Southampton after an e-scooter burst into flames filling a child’s room with toxic smoke and fumes. Fortunately, due to a working smoke alarm the family were awoken and managed get the child from the bedroom and flee the property until firefighters arrived.

Firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze before it could spread to further parts of the house, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service (HIWFRS) have advised people not to charge e-scooters in bedrooms and to not leave unattended on charge overnight.

Group Manager for Community Safety at HIWFRS, John Amos, said:

“Working smoke alarms save lives and although that remains a vital message, we want to take the opportunity during NFCC Home Safety Week to remind people that they need to assess the needs of their individual homes when determining the level of protection they need, and in which rooms smoke alarms should be fitted.”

“We advise fitting at least one smoke alarm on every floor of the home and ideally these should be fitted in the rooms that are used most often as this is where a fire is most likely to start. We offer additional support to fit smoke alarms for those who are most vulnerable to fire via our Safe and Well visits.”

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