Dog rescued from e-scooter blaze at Hillingdon house after family’s ‘lucky’ escape

Firefighters have rescued a dog from a house fire caused by an e-scooter in west London.

Emergency services dashed to the blaze just after 9.30pm on Tuesday, February 15, at a mid-terraced house on Peplow Close, West Drayton.

A family of four fled the Hillingdon property, before firefighters arrived, but no one was injured.

And a dog was rescued by firefighters in breathing masks from the first floor of the house.

Simon Hall, from Hillingdon fire station, who was at the scene, said: "One of the occupants was alerted to the fire after hearing popping and they saw the batteries sparking.

"Crews worked hard to bring the fire under control and contain it as much as possible.

“The family was very lucky to get out.”

The London Fire Brigade (LFB)’s investigators believe the fire was accidental and involved a lithium-ion battery for a self-balancing e-scooter which was on charge at the time of the fire.

The ground floor of the property was damaged by the blaze.

Mr Hall continued: "The scooter was on charge under the stairs in the open plan living room.

“If it had happened later at night when they were asleep the fire could easily have developed and engulfed the staircase.”

He added: "Electric bikes and scooters are often stored and charged in escape routes in homes so when a fire does occur, these are blocked.

“It immediately makes an already serious situation much more frightening for those involved so please be mindful of where you store them - including not charging them under the stairs.”

The LFB warned lithium-ion batteries are at risk of failing if incorrect chargers are used - and can be a fire risk if left charging unattended or overnight.

Users are urged to ensure they have the right charger for their products, especially e-bikes and e-scooters, and to buy official chargers from reputable suppliers or sellers.

Damaged batteries can also pose a risk, so users should limit any knocks while in use.

And people are warned not to expose the batteries to any extremes of temperature.

A spokesperson for the LFB said: “The Brigade was called at 9.36pm and the fire was under control by 10.36pm.

“Two fire engines and around 10 firefighters from Hillingdon Fire Station attended.”