METAIRIE, La. — A hoverboard may have been the cause of a fire that destroyed a young family’s house on Purdue Lane in Metairie.
Jordan and Stacie Schudmak were asleep early Sunday morning. A little after midnight, they woke up to a loud pop and the sound of their smoke alarms. They “yelled for the kids,” aged 7 and 10, as the house filled with smoke. Downstairs, they passed one of the kids’ hoverboards engulfed in flames.
Stacie had grabbed a fire extinguisher from the upper floor. Once everyone was out, Jordan raced back inside and sprayed it on the fire until it was empty. Then he pulled a garden hose into the house and doused the fire until the heat overcame him. “I had no plan,” said Jordan, “but I knew what I needed to do”
The Jefferson Parish Fire Department says firefighters got there around 1:30. They rescued the family’s 3 dogs, who were all still trapped inside.
“The rest is history,” said Jordan. “The house is history. All over a hoverboard.”
Hoverboards first hit the market in 2014 and quickly became popular. Then, a growing number of people reported that their boards had caught fire after the batteries inside overheated. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released a report in December urging hoverboard manufacturers to follow voluntary safety guidelines. According to the report, the Commission received hundreds of reports of hoverboards catching fire or overheating in 2022. The boards were blamed for at least 11 deaths.
The Jefferson Parish Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the Purdue Lane fire. East Bank Chief Tye Mire said even though it appears to have started with the hoverboard, it could have been its charger or another device nearby.
The Shudmachs are sure of one thing, though.
“The smoke detectors one hundred percent saved our lives without a doubt,’ Jordan said. He believes the type of smoke detector, a Google Nest Protect, may have gotten his family out of the house sooner. It’s advertised as providing an earlier warning than other smoke detectors, as well as sending an alert to your phone.
For now, the Schudmaks are staying with a family member. Almost everything in the house will have to be replaced. Jordan and Stacie, though, are grateful that firefighters were able to save their home from becoming a total loss, and that everyone got out safe. “We’re alive. The kids are our only priorities,” said Jordan.
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