MORNING-05
mornings because of a fire risk.>
have burst into flames. The new recall affects ten companies that make or
sell hoverboards.>
KRISTINE JOHNSON: More than half a million hoverboards are being recalled this morning because of a fire risk. The Consumer Product Safety Commission cites reports that dozens have burst into flames. The new recall affects ten companies that make or sell hoverboards. Kris Van Cleave is at the CPSC`s National Product Testing and Evaluation Center in Rockville, Maryland. Kris, good morning.
KRIS VAN CLEAVE: Good morning. This is a hoverboard that caught fire out in the field. You can see the area. This is where the battery pack would be everything around it is burned. The real point of concern with these are the battery packs. And basically, it`s a collection of lithium-ion batteries like this. When they catch fire, they end up looking more like that. And those fires can be very intense. Keep in mind, the battery pack sits right here. You could be standing right here.
(Begin VT)
MAN: Oh-oh. There we go.
KRIS VAN CLEAVE: The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received at least ninety-nine reports of the lithium-ion battery packs that power hoverboards overheating, smoking, catching fire and exploding.
ELLIOT KAYE: If you own a hoverboard, stop using it immediately.
KRIS VAN CLEAVE: CPSC chairman Elliot Kaye announced the recall of more than five hundred thousand hoverboards made between June of 2015 and May of this year, that do not meet the standard set by the independent safety science company UL.
ELLIOT KAYE: This is indicative of improper designs, improper manufacturing and I would say irresponsible sales.
JESSICA HORN: I just seen sparks just, like, shoot like a firework.
KRIS VAN CLEAVE: Jessica Horn says her son was charging a hoverboard inside their Louisiana home in November when it started a fire that burned through the house.
JESSICA HORN: The hoverboard is still here.
KRIS VAN CLEAVE: The destruction is just some of the more than two million dollars in property damage linked to hoverboards and is one of over sixty hoverboard-related fires in more than twenty states. The potential danger has forced many airlines, universities, and even the New York City subway to ban the self-balancing scooters.
JEN OLSON: It wasn`t until after we had already bought all of them that we really heard about all the issues taking place with the fires.
KRIS VAN CLEAVE: Jen Olson`s company KGO Project Management purchased fifty hoverboards as gifts for its employees last Christmas.
JEN OLSON: I hope the result of this is such that they start to produce more safe, you know, batter unit, such that more people can use them and not have to be so worried about it.
(End VT)
KRIS VAN CLEAVE: Hoverboard maker Swagway tells CBS News that safety is its first priority. It will replace the battery packs on its recalled X1 hoverboards. Jamie.
JAMIE YUCCAS: Sounds like they need to. Kris, thank you.
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