Footage shows the devastating blaze that killed a couple and their dogs, as firefighters recall their heroic efforts to save them from horrific e-bike fire.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I've seen some bad incidents in my 21 years, but this is without a doubt one of the worst
00:24When I think of Natasha and Carlo, they were always giggling, hugging each other.
00:44They had this beautiful, lovely home, a place where he passed away, where he was feeling at home.
00:55Natasha was 27 years old when she passed away. She is the most thoughtful, caring person I've ever known, beautiful inside and out. I would really look forward to seeing her.
01:12I always think about a butterfly and a mouse. Natasha being a beautiful butterfly.
01:20They were just like best friends. I'm so grateful for everything that Carlo did for Natasha. He was just such a gentleman and would do anything for her.
01:32Often a night shift, if it comes through as a house fire, you feel a lot of adrenaline. So at night time, you've got a much greater chance of the people actually being in that property.
01:42When we came up the road, the road itself was so thick with smoke. Usually if you have a property fire, you can usually see where it is, what house it is, what flat it is. But on this occasion, we couldn't even see the houses of the streets. That's how thick the actual smoke was.
02:01The fire was quite extensive and pretty intense. The initial breathing apparatus crew were just finishing their start-up procedure and they were taking a hose reel and they were making entry into the property.
02:17Going in as a BA wearer, your sole task is to put that fire out and to search for anybody in the property. So whilst we were starting up and going under air, we were told that there's a possibility of two people being in the property as well as two dogs.
02:34The intensity and the heat was very, very hot. It's one of the hottest sort of incidents I've ever been in. You could feel it in our hands, even when we were low. Everything was on fire. All the steps were on fire. All the walls were on fire. All the ceilings were on fire. All the doors were on fire.
02:53Once it had extinguished the majority of that fire, I was able to use the thermal image camera to scan the room. Thermal image camera didn't really pick anything up. Everything was so hot and actually the screen can sometimes white out.
03:07The room itself, the bedroom, was completely burnt. It was devastating. I've seen some bad incidents in my 21 years, but this is without a doubt one of the worst I've ever seen.
03:32I've got a dog of my own and to see a couple of dogs as well that were deceased, it was horrible. It was horrible.
03:47Obviously at the point of entry, we don't know the reason as to how the fire started or the reason for its severity. That only really comes about a little bit later on with fire investigation.
04:03The damage was devastating. So there was nothing recognisable. Each and every riser had either been damaged by fire, charred, carpet had been consumed, it had shrunken back, there was no wall coverings on any of the wall.
04:22There was really intense fire damage at the base of the stairs where it calcinates and it turns white indicating a really high heat source.
04:32And then as you moved your way up into the first floor, it was evident that there had been fire damage and flame impingement in each and every other rooms on the first floor.
04:46When we looked into the hallway, we saw the remnants of what appeared to be an e-bike. I say that because we saw the frame of a mountain bike that had been totally destructed by fire.
05:04There's a terminology called thermal runaway. That's when the battery overheats or the cells crack or break and they literally explode.
05:17Thermal runaway has a number of different triggers. It can be from poorly manufactured batteries. It can be the result of mechanical damage. It can be caused from external heat sources.
05:32But ultimately, as it goes into thermal runaway and all these pressure increases within the cells, they can rupture or vent quite catastrophically.
05:43As they do, temperatures of 600 to 1000 degrees can be almost instantaneous. It becomes a chain reaction.
05:53So one cell going into thermal runaway can then cause the thermal runaway in each subsequent cell.
06:00And in this circumstance, we found 80 plus cells that had all ruptured and had all failed quite catastrophically, resulting in a really fast developing fire that could only go upstairs.
06:20The fact that the fire had burned so quickly due to the lithium batteries and the fact that it had gone straight up the stairs and into their bedroom with the door open meant that it was such an intense and quick burn that unfortunately, without closing that door, they just didn't have a chance.
06:41I am very sad, but only 50%. 50%, I'm very proud. I'm standing tall, being proud of who he was.
06:59I can't stop for this project to be sold. But I would like everybody to know that it is happening. It takes only once. Only once he charged it overnight. And that was the night that took them away.
07:27We always preach, if you can, just to keep your doors closed at night, because just a basic door will give you 20 minutes, 15, 20 minutes protection.
07:38It reduces, obviously, the spread of smoke, reduces the spread of fire, but also gives you time to actually be able to get out safely, make a phone call. By closing that door, it gives you the opportunity to protect yourself. You can put quilts, duvets, pillows at the bottom of that door to stop any influx of smoke.
08:00We are seeing a concerning trend in fires and incidents caused by e-bikes and e-scooters. Between the years of 2022 and 2023, we saw 100% increase of those incidents across the West Midlands.
08:16Sometimes these dangers are completely hidden, especially if they're encased within a hard plastic cover. There are a lot of different things that people can look out for. So if the battery starts heating, and it's evident that there's a heat source, if any of the external packaging becomes deformed, if there's a strange smell, a hissing sound, a popping sound, anything that is out of the norm should be avoided.
08:46People should be taken with a high degree of danger, really, because they are quite stable until a point that they just catastrophically fail.
09:00Our advice is not to store them or charge them in front of any communal areas, fire exits or fire escapes. If you need to leave your property because of a fire, we want you to be able to do that as quickly and as safely as possible. Ensure that you buy them from a reputable retailer or seller.
09:22Never charge it overnight. Avoid any marketplace, online or second-hand purchases because you can never be completely aware of where this product has come from or how it's been manufactured.
09:37There's often a temptation to look for a cheaper product or an alternative. The risk with this is that these cheaper alternatives don't always meet our British safety standards.
09:51I've got no words as to how I feel in losing Natasha's physical form and the feelings and the memories of how she spent the last few moments of her life.
10:04There is nothing on this earth that is worth losing your family for an item that is likely to cause damage and in this case it has been catastrophic, fatal damage.
10:23My life will just never be the same without her. That's it.