PALM COAST, FL (WESH/CNN) - A family is lucky to be alive after their house was destroyed by a fire, one allegedly caused when a hoverboard the 11-year-old got for Christmas exploded.
Melissa Bodiford, her two children and her niece were watching the Netflix movie “Bird Box” when the fire began. The mother says the decision to watch the movie may have saved their lives.
"Shout out to ‘Bird Box.’ If it wasn't for everyone talking about that movie, for me to go watch it and for all of us to sit in the front room, I would not have my son, my daughter or my niece,” Bodiford said.
Bodiford says a hoverboard her 11-year-old son Brodie Hamilton got for Christmas exploded, causing the fire.
"The hoverboard blew up. I seen it blow up,” she said. "Boom boom boom boom, just blowing up, and all I can do is grab my daughter, grab everyone and try and get out."
Palm Coast Fire Chief Jerry Forte described the fire as intense, and heavy smoke filled every room of the house. The family was forced to flee, as the home went up in flames.
"I had to open the back-patio door and lower everyone out. I just busted through the back-patio door,” Brodie said.
Crews were able to find one wheel of the hoverboard, but everything else seemed to be destroyed. Forte says it’s unclear if the toy was the cause of the fire.
"It's hard to determine if the hoverboard was actually the cause of the fire, but it was in close proximity to the mattress, which was readily burning by the time we got here,” he said. "The center of the fire was right near the mattress.”
Nevertheless, Bodiford says hoverboards should be banned from stores.
Forte says the family tried to use a hose to put the fire out. He warned the public not to do that but simply to get out of the house.
The community is taking up donations to help the family’s recovery.
Copyright 2018 WESH, Hearst, Palm Coast Fire Department, Melissa Bodiford via CNN. All rights reserved.
