Another Reported Fire Involving Hoverboard Destroys Rialto Woman's Car
RIALTO (CBSLA.com) — Hoverboards remain hot as ever.
One Rialto woman believes they are too hot.
She says she was driving home with her cousin and father when her hoverboard started to smoke. She said the board started to smoulder and the next thing she knew her car was on fire.
"Oh my God! It's exploding," said Maria Gomez.
Cellphone video captures her car going up in smoke.
Gomez was with her cousin and father in her 2014 Kia Optima when she said the hoverboard caught on fire.
The cellphone video also shows the remains of a melted and ash-ridden hoverboard.
"[My cousin] had it between his legs, and he he started to go 'Hey, it's smoking, it's smoking,'" she said. "And my dad said, 'What?' And then my cousin said 'Pull over.'"
The $300 hoverboard was a Christmas gift from her husband.
"My dad pulled over he didn't even turn off the ignition switch," Gomez said, "He tried to gi back in to get the hoverboard out but it bursted in flames."
The Rialto Fire Department didn't have anyone available on weekends who could confirm what started the fire but hoverboards spontaneously burning have been reported around the country.
In December, Elliot F. Kaye, the chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said falls from hoverboards are a bigger concern, but also issued this statement:
"Consumers want and deserve answers about the safety of hoverboards. I have directed agency staff to work non-stop to find the root cause of the fire hazard, how much of a risk it might present, and to provide consumers with answers as soon as possible," the statement said.
Gomez says she followed all the guidelines but wishes those risks might have been more clear before she used the device.
She had a warning for parents.
"Do not buy them. Please don't," she said.