E-scooter battery overheated and exploded, setting fire to bed in Essex flat

An electric scooter battery exploded, setting fire to a mattress and bedding in a ground-floor flat bedroom.

The room was left blackened and scorched, with the mattress reduced to mostly ashes, after crews were called to the blaze at Wayletts in Laindon, near Basildon in Essex, around 12.40am on Monday.

Firemen received an early call thanks to smoke alarms in the flat alerting those living there, and were able to keep the flames contained to the bedroom.

But smoke left the property uninhabitable and people living elsewhere in the three-storey building had to leave until the fire was fully extinguished at around 1.45am.

Watch manager Mark Blakeborough said: "An e-scooter battery exploded and set the mattress and bedding alight, which cause the fire to spread very rapidly.

"The incident shows the dangers of charging or keeping e-scooters inside because lithium batteries can overheat and ignite."

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