Recently purchased hoverboard blows up, leaves family without a home

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - A hoverboard is responsible for a fire that displaced a family in midtown on Saturday.

Ashley Lappitt said she bought her 9-year-old daughter Alaiah a hoverboard off a website called "Let Go" for $60.

They got the hoverboard on Saturday, plugged it in to charge and left the house.

When they returned later that day, they found the hoverboard destroyed and the house covered in ash and soot.

"I see black stuff everywhere. I was scared because I knew my puppy was in there. We were all screaming and crying," said Keianna Jones, one of the daughters.

"[There was] black on the slide doors and then we smelled it," said Alaiah.

Lappitt said they just got the keys for this house the day before and they hadn't even moved all of their things in yet.

She said the warnings of hoverboards blowing up never concerned her. Two of her daughters have had theirs for years now, without any problems.

"I was really surprised because we had ours for two years now, so I was really surprised," Jones said.

Lappitt says she was able to get her money back, and is now working on finding out the exact make and model of it. As for 9-year-old Alaiah, she said she'll be staying away from hoverboards, at least for the time being.

She said she wants skates now "because it won't blow up."

"You said you want skates now? Yes. Because it wont blow up."

The family is staying in a hotel right now with help of the Red Cross. Lappitt said they wont be able to move back in into this house because the clean up and the repairs are just too costly.

MOBILE USERS: Download our app on your Apple and Android devices.