Another hoverboard fire scorches California home

Despite a number of early warnings just before Christmas, the list of hoverboard fires continues to grow, with the latest major incident occurring in Van Nuys, California.

In this case, the device erupted in flames while it was charging.

Local firefighters responding to the call on Sunday at 10:15 p.m. discovered thick plumes of smoke and flames coming from the house according to a report from the Los Angeles Daily News. The fire was so bad that firefighters were forced to climb to the home’s roof to battle the blaze.

Video of the incident reveals that this latest hoverboard incident wasn’t a small accident but a major fire situation that threatened to burn the entire house down.

Just before Christmas, NBC’s Saturday Night Live made light of the reports of burning hoverboards in an over-the-top sketch. But as more reports pile up, it appears that, once again, comedic fiction is pointing the way toward a troubling reality — the most popular new gadget on the market is endangering some users.

Just yesterday, in what may be the biggest hoverboard accident to date, an Australian family lost their entire home due to a malfunctioning hoverboard that had been left to charge for only 10 minutes.

And while the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued stern warningsaround the lack of safety standards in place for hoverboards, many consumers continue to buy them with little thought of the possible dangers.

A number of airlines have banned hoverboards, and California has even enacted rules governing their use on the road, but as the CPSC’s investigation into hoverboard safety continues, the best and strongest warnings consumers have are these seemingly unending hoverboard fire reports.