Death toll in Pa. hoverboard fire climbs to three
The death toll from a central Pennsylvania fire believed to be the first fatal blaze sparked by a hoverboard has climbed to three.
The death toll from a central Pennsylvania fire believed to be the first fatal blaze sparked by a hoverboard has climbed to three.
Two young girls and a fire department officer who crashed responding to the blaze have died. The incident remains under investigation.
A 10-year-old girl, Savannah Dominick, died Thursday at Lehigh Valley Hospital, according to PennLive. Her death follows those of her sister, 3-year-old Ashanti Hughes, who died Saturday morning, hours after the March 10 blaze, and Lt. Dennis DeVoe, a Harrisburg firefighter who died in a car crash on his way to the house fire.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the fire, preliminarily attributing it to a hoverboard that overheated while it was being recharged.
While hoverboards have been growing in popularity in recent years, the electronic scooters have caused concerns due to the explosive risks. The Consumer Product Safety Commission last year recalled more than 500,000 of the devices from 11 different companies. Many airlines have banned them on flights, and several local colleges do not allow hoverboards in university buildings.
Still, the devices have remained big sellers despite the fire threat.
The commission said it is still investigating whether the hoverboard that apparently sparked the Harrisburg fire was one of the recalled models.
The two young girls suffered 95 percent "full thickness burns" and their deaths have been ruled accidental, Coroner Scott Grim told the Morning Call.
Services for Devoe, a 21-year veteran firefighter, are being held Friday. Flags have been flown at half-staff at the Capitol Complex in Harrisburg all week in his honor.
Officials have said DeVoe had just attended the funeral for a retired fireighter and was on his way to pick up his gear at the fire station en route to the blaze when his vehicle was struck at an intersection. The other driver has been charged with aggravated assault and other offenses.
The fallen firefighter was an organ donor; his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys saved multiple lives after his death, and his tissues are slated to be used in dozens more surgeries, PennLive reported.