Mum's plea to 'not charge e-scooters indoors' after devastating fire

A Highland mum is urging those considering buying an electronic scooter to think about where to charge them, after an explosion cost her family more than £20,000.

Aiga Pacune Erdmane awoke in the middle of the night to what she initially thought was the sound of someone chopping wood outside her South Kessock home.

To her horror, her garden shed was engulfed in flames with plumes of smoke encroaching on her neighbour's property.

The Millburn Academy Pupil Support Assistant says the fire came from the battery of her 14-year-old son Leo's e-scooter, which was charging inside their shed.

Aiga says her family are devastated, but admits it could have been so much worse if the fire occurred in their first floor flat.

During the early hours of April 28th, Aiga and her family woke to the terrifying sight outside of their first floor flat.

Aiga explained how her husband, Janis, tried to extinguish the blaze with the garden hose, but it was so explosive the shed door hinges blew off and hit their home.

The Inverness mum also explained how Janis, who has a love for mechanics, collected tools for more than 10 years before building the shed eight years ago.

She said: "All the flames were on my wooden swings and the roof of the garden shed, it was very hot. 

"For eight years, the memories that were built there were just gone.

"Approximately, we calculated we've lost £20,000 in tools alone."

Aiga says the fire came from her son's £500 e-scooter, which they bought after researching multiple products, to help him attend muscle training in Milton of Leys as he's a Karate Alba athlete.

They lost garden furniture, camping equipment and many tools, but Aiga explained how losing her son's schoolwork hit her the hardest.

She added: "We just purchased a gazebo and the garden furniture a year ago, the first time in our lives we could afford these things. 

"It's just material things.

"My son built hooks for his daddy to hang his tools on. It was rough shaped, it was his first job hanging on the shed door.

"He will never be in S1 again, he will never do the metal work again and it will not be the same. 

"You can't buy these things."

As upsetting as the fire is, Aiga admits it could have been so much worse and is urging others to be cautious.

She said: "I can't even imagine if that caught fire indoors, we would be dead. It would be lethal. 

"There is only one place it could charge, in our corridor. If that caught fire, we would never escape.

"Please grandparents, aunties, uncles and parents before buying an electric scooter, consider very carefully where you are charging them."

A Scottish Fire and Rescue spokesperson said: "We were alerted at 4.44am on Tuesday, 28 April to reports of a shed on fire at Kessock Avenue, Inverness.

“Operations Control mobilised two fire appliances and firefighters extinguished a fire affecting a shed.

“There were no reported casualties and crews left the scene after ensuring the area was made safe.”