VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A Virginia Beach mother is counting her blessings after a harrowing escape from her home last month.
It was around midnight June 5 when Michelle Buckingham’s teen daughter heard a funny noise that apparently came from the garage just below her bedroom.
“My daughter woke me up and said, ‘Mom, I think somebody is breaking in the garage. I hear something,’ and she’s like, ‘but it smells weird,'” Buckingham said.
The odor was apparently the smell of her brother’s lithium battery-powered bike that was on fire. The mother called 911, and everyone, including grandma, rushed outside.
“And then I went back upstairs and grabbed the fire extinguisher, came downstairs, open the garage from the outside and tried to put the fire out,” Buckingham said. “But I think a lot of people don’t realize that this was an older fire extinguisher that actually doesn’t have the the stuff inside that it needs to put these type of lithium batteries out because they’re so hot.”
The heat, Buckhingham said, caused items in the garage to explode.
“We had a propane tank in there,” Buckingham said. “We had spray paint bottles and they exploded. … We had a lot in our garage, and so things were exploding in the garage because it was on fire. The whole garage is done. I mean, it’s all burnt.”
The Buckingham family applauded first responders and neighbors.
“We have the best neighborhood,” Buckingham said. “And my best friend literally lives down the street. And we’ve been with them for over a month with our two dogs. I think the hardest was my mom, because having her for two weeks, I did have to put her in a memory home because we were going to do that anyway.”
Buckingham said her mother has adjusted to her new surroundings while the family is staying with a neighbor until a rental home is available for the next several months.
The family has a new electric bike and a new safety plan that includes a battery storage box, updated fire extinguishers, and a smoke alarm for their next garage.
The National Fire Protection Association said people should stop using a lithium battery if you notice an odor, a change in shape or odd noises. Virginia Beach Fire officials say the fire was caused by an electric bike that was being charged overnight, and that is something you should never do.