ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A St. Augustine man is talking only to Action News Jax after he lost his houseboat in a massive fire along Trout Creek.
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Action News Jax Shanila Kabir spoke to the boat’s owner and his family who believe the fire was caused by charging an E-Bike.
The boater, Teddy Cline said he lived in that boat in St. Johns County for only a year before that fire destroyed the entire vessel. He said the fire was blocking the front door, so he had to jump out of a window, hop onto one of his smaller boats, and paddle towards shore.
“I had to paddle away from it because it began crackling and popping and then the whole boat exploded. I saw the top of it fly off,” said Teddy Cline.
Cline said he had just brought his E-Bike battery on board around 9 PM Friday night to charge it. Within minutes, the battery began to fizzle.
“I tried to pat it down and put it down at first. That’s when it exploded. It was like a big old fireball.”
The Cline family said the fire swallowed the entire boat within 45 minutes. Teddy adds it was not a hot day on Friday, so he believes the battery just happened to fail that day, possibly due to the heat.
“You always hear about them batteries exploding and this one did. It got me pretty good on my neck.”
St. Johns County Fire Rescue has, issued several warnings about the dangers of lithium batteries in E-Bikes and the fire hazards they can present if not charged correctly. The department recommends all users to store and charge E-Bikes safely- away from heat and to never leave them charging for too long.
Click HERE to find a GoFundMe link organized by the Cline family
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