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Spontaneously Combusting Hoverboards Spark Probe

By R. Siva Kumar | Update Date: Jan 26, 2016 10:50 AM EST

The hoverboard, a popular toy, has suddenly come under the observation of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which finds that it spontaneously begins to combust. Hence, the CPSC is investigating "dozens" of fires that involve hoverboards in a statement.

"Many of these fires occurred indoors and could have resulted in serious injuries if not for the quick actions of consumers to extinguish the fire." The agency has described the investigation as a "priority" and is "devoting the staff time and resources necessary to find the root causes of the fires."

The CPSC explains that even as hoverboards might get a certification from the Underwriters Laboratories, it does not have a safety designation for the toy as a whole.

The combustion and fires are due to the weak quality of lithium batteries in the hoverboards, says Wired. Most of the fires occurred when the device got plugged in and was charging.

However, there are a number of risks that hoverboards face apart from fire, says CPSC chairman Elliot F. Kaye.

"At first glance, it is easy to believe the risk of falling off a hoverboard is an obvious one and to dismiss those injuries as user inexperience or error. However, I am concerned, for example, that the current designs of these products might not take fully into consideration the different weights of different users, potentially leading to the units speeding up or lurching in a manner that a user would not have reason to anticipate," Kaye said, according to Gear Junkie.

Currently, the CPSC is examining 13 kinds of hoverboards.

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