MANCHESTER, Pa. —Officials say a hoverboard is to blame for causing a fire that destroyed four homes and left 13 people displaced in York County, Pennsylvania, according to WPMT.
Officials said a hoverboard caught fire and spread through the house in Manchester. Neighbors said Jacqueline Brooks lived in the home with six kids.
“This is tragic. I mean not tragic in the sense that no lives were lost. Thank God. But it’s tragic people have their lives uprooted like this over a hoverboard," said Manchester resident Lori Krebs.
Krebs said, “Sparks coming out of the socket (where the board was charging) and she ran down and tried to put it out and the smoke overcame her.”
Union Fire Company Chief Joe Stevens said, “We strongly, strongly, strongly encourage people if you have hoverboards, get rid of them.”
Neighbor Trish Miranda said she helped Brooks get the children out of the house.
“It’s just it’s a matter of your life went up in flames in a matter of minutes, and it’s very - it’s a sad situation because it’s everything. The only thing they had was what they were wearing when they took them out of the house and that was it,” Miranda said,
The fire spread to connecting houses. Another neighbor said her daughter lives in the home next door that was also destroyed by the fire but was on vacation when it happened.
Krebs said, “It was a tough call to make.”
