Two residents of a house in Santiago de Cuba that caught fire early Thursday morning due to the explosion of a scooter, managed to save their lives by jumping from the second floor of the building, but they lost all their belongings.
The incident occurred around 2:35 a.m. at the residence located on Tramayo Street between Trocha and Gasómetro, in the Los Cangrejitos neighborhood, where an electric motorcycle exploded, igniting a fire that rapidly spread throughout the interior of the home. This was reported by Aris Arias Batalla, vice president of the Volunteer Firefighters Association in Santiago de Cuba, in a Facebook post where he provided updates on the incident.
At the time of the fire, there were two people in the house who, having no escape routes, "opened the gate of the second-floor door, broke the glass of the door, and jumped out into the street," Arias stated in his report.
One of the residents "injured himself on the glass from the door when he broke it and fled with the flames nearly upon him", which is why he was transported to Dr. Joaquín Castillo Duany Military Hospital, where the medical staff treated a wound on his leg caused by the glass.
The residents of the house lost everything, Arias stated and explained that, “with the explosion, the lithium from the rechargeable battery expands in a sudden process, generating a furious and accelerated flame, capable of consuming everything within reach in just a few minutes.”
In the post, the rescuer shared photos that show the severe damage caused by the incident.
Arias urged the public to "stay alert, be prepared, and eliminate flammable elements and sources that could lead to tragic fatal fire incidents" and cautioned that electric motorcycles are 'ticking time bombs', especially when their owners tamper with the electrical system or violate charging hours, "the required resting times before and after charges."
“!!!Beware of electric scooters!!! This is not about delays, setbacks, or negligence in action; it’s about the fact that lithium batteries are highly volatile,” he warned.
Also, it was reported that about four hours later, firefighters extinguished another fire in a paint tank storage facility in the city, which “was quickly contained, preventing its spread to nearby warehouses containing significant state resources.”
The rescuer did not specify where this second incident occurred. Both fires were extinguished by members of Command 1 (Martí) of the Santiago de Cuba Fire Department, he said.
The explosions of lithium batteries from so-called motorinas are a common cause of fires in Cuba, many of which have fatal outcomes.
In January of last year, a 13-year-old boy, his 16-year-old sister, and the girl's 19-year-old boyfriend, lost their lives due to the explosion of a motorcycle battery that ignited a fire while they were sleeping in their home in the municipality of Regla, Havana.
The rise in fires related to electric motorcycles in Cuba has raised concerns among both the public and authorities, who attribute these incidents to the improper use of equipment by citizens, although this is also influenced by the limited availability of replacement parts.
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