Electric scooter starts fire inside Point Park student's apartment
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - An investigation is underway after a scooter exploded, catching fire inside a Point Park University dorm early Saturday.
Aidan McFarlane woke up in his apartment on Point Park's campus full of smoke and saw flames Saturday morning.
"Something woke me up that morning; I heard the sound of sizzling like firecrackers on the Fourth of July. I live in a studio, so I turned around in my bed, and I see the color orange. So in my head, I thought, get water and put it on the fire."
Since it was an electrical fire, the flames grew larger. McFarlane then reached for his phone and called his mom on what to do next.
"He was screaming in the background, 'Mom, there's a fire, there's a fire I can't get it out. I don't know what to do,' and I don't think that's a call a parent ever wants to get," Diane McFarlane said.
She said to call 911, and they both reached out for help.
"He called me first, like, that's not the way it's supposed to be, that's not the way this works. What I've learned is many people call the person they think will help them the most instead of calling 911."
McFarlane was more worried about the other students in his hall and helped get them outside.
"There's other people in this building not just me. I'm trying to get them out of the building. So all these students, it's a student-only building, I'm trying to get them out of the building. Everyone out so I finally get downstairs and everyone out."
Fire crews were able to quickly extinguish the flames.
Electric scooters have been banned at other Pennsylvania universities because of this reason.
Aidan's mother mentioned her daughter's school at Villanova decided to get rid of them on campus.
"At the beginning of the school year, they had sent a notice to parents and students that students who have electric bikes or scooters of any kind were not allowed on campus because of these fires that have been happening."
The McFarlane family hopes this freak accident brings awareness to other students and electric scooter owners.
"That just scares me for anyone who even just has a normal scooter just charging in their apartment because my scooter that wasn't used or plugged in for over a month, [it] caused all this damage and it could have been so much worse."
Aidan's mom bought him a fire-smothering blanket for him to keep in his apartment in the future.
This is a lesson learned in what not to do with an electrical fire and to always call 911 first. If an electrical fire starts, first cut off the electricity, add baking soda, remove the oxygen source, and don't use water to put it out. Check your fire extinguisher.