Portland, Oregon – Last week, a family’s house was destroyed, and their two cats were killed in a fire believed to have been started by the lithium battery in an electric bike. As reported by KPTV News, the fire broke out while the Humphey family was sleeping.
According to Portland Fire & Rescue, preliminary indications point to lithium-ion batteries as the cause of the fire. The night before the blaze erupted, Humphrey had been helping a friend with their E-bike. Before going to bed, he checked to ensure that everything was okay…but it was not.
Mathew Humphrey’s wife smelled smoke. Humphrey tells the news agency, “I ran downstairs, went to my garage, opened the door, completely full of smoke. And I could see at my bench where the battery was, and my chair that everything was on fire.”
The blaze ravaged the home and killed the family’s two cats, Leo, 10, and Slyve, who was just six months of age. Humphrey said, “One of the things that actually hurts talking with people is that, yeah, you should be happy. Your family made it out. My family didn’t make it out. My people children, made it, but my babies did not.”
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