“Do not charge scooters and electric bikes at night”: the dramatic request of the firefighters after the death of mother and children in Cambridge
Gemma Germeney, 31, died in Cambridge , along with her children, Lilly and Oliver, aged eight and four, on Friday in a house fire at their cottage. A drama that prompted the firefighters to investigate in depth.
The cause of the tragedy has been discovered by the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service: the battery of an electric bicycle left to charge overnight caught fire. E-bikes and e-scooters are very popular modes of personal transport in small towns in the UK because they are inexpensive and environmentally friendly, but in this case a tragedy has arisen.
"We know that electric bicycles and electric scooters are very popular modes of personal transport at the moment and we urge anyone who owns one to be aware of the potential risks and to follow simple precautions to reduce the likelihood of overheating the batteries," authorities said.
The service strongly advised the population not to charge the battery of an e-bike or e-scooter during the night and not to leave it in charge for longer than that necessary for a complete recharge.
The fire caused in the house by the battery of the electric bike was so intense that 30 firefighters were needed to extinguish it. Unfortunately it was too late for Mrs. Germeney and her daughters.
The diffusion of electric means of locomotion has made accidents deriving from lithium batteries more and more frequent, currently linked to a technology still subject to too many dangerous accidents and fires. In June, an electric car exploded in a garage in Treviso, destroying a house.
In May, also in the United Kingdom, there had been another house fire linked to a scooter that had caught fire during charging, but in that case the owner of the house was saved. This time it didn't go so well. So remember: don't go to sleep leaving your bike or scooter charging. For cars… good luck.
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The article "Do not charge scooters and electric bikes at night": the dramatic request of the firefighters after the death of a mother and children in Cambridge comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/non-caricate-monopattini-e-bici-elettriche-di-notte-la-drammatica-richiesta-dei-vigili-del-fuoco-dopo-la-morte-di-madre-e-figli-a-cambridge/ on Wed, 05 Jul 2023 13:39:05 +0000.