Off-Brand E-Bike Cord, Explosion, Lit Tiogue Ave. Fire

[READ MORE COVENTRY NEWS]

COVENTRY, RI — Hopkins Hill Fire Chief Frank Brown says an off-brand E-bike cord caused the explosion that lit Monday night’s 978 Tiogue Ave. Glenwood Park apartment fire, and urged people not to mix and match charging accessories.

“You have to use the one the manufacturer recommended,” Brown said Tuesday.

Brown said a 13-year-old boy had been using an off-brand E-bike cord that day.  The teen plugged the off-brand cord into the E-bike at about 3 p.m. At about 9:30 p.m., he checked on the bike’s battery charge, seeing that its charge indicator was still red, Brown said. A few moments later, the battery exploded, catching the floor below it and the ceiling above it on fire. In photos of the aftermath in the apartment, cylindrical battery cells are visible scattered from the battery by the explosion.

The teen fled the apartment in his underwear, alerting neighbors as the automatic fire alarms sounded. All of the 30 people living there exited the building without serious injury. At Hopkins Hill Fire station, the box alarm began sounding, and Brown and a handful of his firefighters were the first to respond to the fire, within minutes, he said.

Brown coordinated with Coventry Police, asking them to question people fleeing the building about other residents who might still be inside.

“We got a report of two people trapped on the second floor,” Brown said. Brown looked up and saw the pair in a window. Brown later learned they had attempted to exit their apartment but the stair landing to the exit was blocked by smoke from the fire. Had they attempted to leave that way, Brown said, they likely would have been overcome by the smoke.

Two Hopkins Hill firefighters put up a ladder and carried each person out and down, then transported them to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. The ladder rescue was a unique moment in Brown’s experience, he said, even though it’s something firefighters train for.

“I’ve never seen that, in my 42 years of firefighting in Coventry,” Brown said.

A third person who exited on their own power was also treated for smoke inhalation, he said.

The three-alarm fire called in firefighters from West Warwick, West Greenwich and Cranston, noted in a video by Steve Oberlander posted to Facebook. The combined effort knocked down the fire within about 15 minutes, Brown said. Firefighters left the scene at about 2:30 a.m. after making sure the fire was out.

In all, 30 people have been displaced by the combined smoke and fire damage to the building. The Red Cross is currently aiding the residents, who may not be able to return to their homes for a few months. Their principle challenge, Brown said, will be finding adequate housing for the people in the meantime.

Lithium-Ion battery safety

Brown said the battery involved in the fire was a Lithium-ion battery, which has been the cause of several recent fire deaths in New York City. In one case, a fire involving a Lithium-ion battery blocked the entrance of an apartment complex, because the bike’s charging station was located at the door.

Besides E-bikes, cars, laptops, phones and many other devices use the batteries. In the case of car batteries using the chemistry, it can take up to 30,000 gallons of water to put out a fire involving one of the devices.

Brown said aside from making sure you’re using the approved cord for you device, the National Fire Protection Association has provided a tip sheet on battery safety informing how to safely use, store, charge and dispose of the batteries. He urged people to familiarize themselves with it and keep the tips in mind. A copy of that sheet is attached at the end of this article.