Warning issued after person dies in house fire caused by e-bike battery left on charge overnight
A warning has been issued after firefighters were called to a serious fire in #Sefton in which a person died.
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service (MFRS) crews were called to a serious fire at Daisy Mews, #Litherland, in the early hours of Sunday 8th January. Sadly, we can confirm that one of the residents of the property has died and another is in a serious condition in hospital.
MFRS crews were alerted at 3am and on scene at 03:08am. Four fire engines attended. On arrival at the two-storey semi-detached house, fire crews found the ground floor fully involved in fire.
Four firefighters immediately entered the property wearing breathing apparatus and used hose reel jets to extinguish the fire whilst also searching for occupants.
Two occupants were located and brought out of the property by firefighters. CPR was undertaken by fire crews and North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) paramedics. Tragically, one person was declared deceased at the scene, the second person was taken to hospital by NWAS in a serious condition.
A further resident who managed to escape the property and raise the alarm after being woken by smoke alarms was also taken to hospital suffering from severe smoke inhalation.
The person found inside the house died at the scene and has been named locally as Rab Shearer. Rab's son Gary is currently in a "critical" condition while his other son, Andrew, has been left with "nothing" following the blaze.
A joint investigation between MFRS and Merseyside Police has revealed that the fire was accidental and caused by an e-bike left charging overnight. The fire had rapidly taken hold and spread quickly through open internal doors.
Area Manager Mark Thomas said:
“This is a devastating incident and our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of those involved. We are also mindful of the impact that the incident will have on the local community at this time and we will be on hand to offer our support in the coming days. I would like also to commend the efforts of our fire control staff who offered help to callers, our fire crews who attempted rescues, also working with NWAS who combined made every effort to provide emergency resuscitation for the casualties.”
“This tragedy highlights the very real risks posed by e-bikes, which we have confirmed as the source of the fire. We would ask that people don’t leave any electrical appliance – particularly e-bikes and scooters - charging unattended and definitely not while you are asleep when we are all at our most vulnerable. Also consider if you are leaving the bike or scooter in the way of your escape route should you need to evacuate in darkness.”
“I would also urge people to follow the manufacturer’s instructions, only using batteries and chargers which have been supplied with the vehicle or approved by the manufacturer.”
”Make a bedtime routine ensuring all internal doors are closed as this will slow the progress of a fire if one should happen. In this incident the resident who raised the alarm was able to do so as smoke alarms had alerted them- please ensure you have working smoke alarms on every level of your home and check them regularly.”
Firefighters and MFRS prevention staff will visit the local area to provide vital fire safety advice and complete home fire safety checks as part of a reassurance campaign in the coming days.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family by neighbour Natalie Kiernan, and she described the fire as an "awful tragedy". She said: "Ray, Gary and Andrew need our support more now than ever. We as a community would like to raise as much as we can to give to this family at there time in need, so if you can donate anything we would be forever grateful, keep fighting Gary you got this."
