In an incident that was caught on video, Los Angeles firefighters extinguished the flames from a burning hoverboard in the Koreatown neighborhood on Wednesday.
Firefighters from Station 13 were returning from a medical call when they were diverted to the flaming hoverboard in the 900 block of South Vermont Avenue about 11:20 a.m., according to Margaret Stewart with the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The hoverboard, she said, was “fully involved.”
Firefighters called it “pretty impressive,” Stewart said.
Video of the incident sent to KTLA showed the smoking hoverboard stopped on a sidewalk.
“Well, it happened. My board just caught on fire today,” says board owner Delvon Simmons in the video. “My board just burned up.”
Simmons told KTLA he was riding his hoverboard in the sidewalk, following a police officer who was pulling someone over. When he passed the officer, the board "exploded," he said.
In the video, a police officer stopped on his motorcycle says he'll “call someone to put it out.” The officer called LAFD, Simmons said.
About 30 seconds after Simmons' video begins, a sizzling noise comes from the board, which begins to flame up.
“There it goes,” Simmons says. “Six hundred dollars down the drain.”
Sirens are soon heard in the background.
“People, if you’ve got one these in your house, I suggest you get it out,” Simmons says. “Otherwise your house is going to burn down.”
Then a firefighter picks the flaming board up and another firefighter sprays it with a hose.
The flames were extinguished and no one was injured, Stewart said.
Considered a top Christmas present this year, hoverboards have been in the spotlight after multiple incidents of the toys catching fire.
KTLA's Scott Williams and Feven Kiflegiorgis contributed to this article.
