A former Playboy model’s Oregon home tragically burst into flames last week. The fire was started by an e-bike battery that suddenly caught fire and exploded.
Kari Ann Peniche shared videos on Instagram, showing the moment the fire took hold of her five-bedroom family home in Troutdale, Oregon.
“Thursday night our lives changed in a matter of seconds… We started noticing a bad smell in our living room. At first I thought maybe a neighbor was cooking broccoli or that our cat had brought a dead animal into the house. My son started looking around to figure out where the smell was coming from and that’s when his friend noticed that his e-bike battery had started smoking,” Peniche captioned the carousel of videos she posted on Instagram.
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“Within moments the battery began exploding and in a matter of seconds our home was engulfed in flames. I can’t even begin to explain how terrifying it was and how quickly everything happened. There was no time to grab anything. No time to think. Just enough time to get everyone out. By the grace of God everyone made it out safely, including all of our pets,” she added.
‘We lost everything’
{{/usCountry}}“Within moments the battery began exploding and in a matter of seconds our home was engulfed in flames. I can’t even begin to explain how terrifying it was and how quickly everything happened. There was no time to grab anything. No time to think. Just enough time to get everyone out. By the grace of God everyone made it out safely, including all of our pets,” she added.
‘We lost everything’
{{/usCountry}}The 2002 Miss Oregon Teen USA made it out safely with her family and pets, but they lost nearly all of their belongings.
“We lost everything. Our home, everything we own, our clothes, photos, art, electronics and irreplaceable things that held a lifetime of memories. Things that no amount of money could ever replace. I’m still trying to process it all. It’s heartbreaking and overwhelming to think about but at the same time I have never felt so incredibly grateful because as devastating as this is I know how easily this could have ended so differently,” she wrote.
Pechiche said that she feels terrified thinking how much worse it could have been, had they been sleeping, or if nobody had noticed the smell.
She added that she shared her experience because she wants people to know how dangerous lithium-ion batteries can be when they fail.
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“I had absolutely no idea a battery could cause this much destruction in such a short amount of time. Please be careful with e-bikes, scooters and anything powered by rechargeable lithium batteries. Learn the warning signs, take precautions and don’t ever ignore a strange smell! Right now, I’m feeling just about every emotion imaginable but more than anything, incredibly thankful that we’re all still here. We lost our home and everything inside it, but we still have each other,” she said.
Lithium-ion batteries are the predominant commercial form of rechargeable batteries. They are widely used in portable electronics and electrified transportation.
According to the University of the Built Environment, “Lithium-ion batteries store a significant amount of energy when charged, and contain highly flammable electrolytes to facilitate the flow of ions. If a battery is damaged, defective, hot or degraded, it builds up heat and pressure, causing it to spontaneously ignite – a phenomenon referred to as “thermal runaway”.”
The website adds, “After thermal runaway, batteries can produce smoke, ignite or even explode, making them extremely dangerous. They can reach temperatures of up to 1000 degrees Celsius and release toxic, dangerous gases – both of which can put lives at risk and cause serious injury.”