Bradford hoverboard fire: Boy, 13, praised for saving children
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Jibril Faris (right) saved nine-year-old friend Tony Chiem and his eight-year-old sister Karen by helping them to an upstairs bedroom before calling emergency services
A 13-year-old boy has been praised by firefighters after saving two young children from a house fire in Bradford when a hoverboard exploded.
Jibril Faris dragged friend Tony Chiem, nine, and his sister Karen, eight, from the living room at the St Mary's Drive property and dialled 999 on Friday.
All three were taken outside the house by Tony's mother, who was also inside.
West Yorkshire Fire Service commended Jibril's "quick-thinking actions" and issued safety advice on using the toy, external.
The hoverboard was plugged into a wall socket and on charge when it exploded into flames
Jibril described the moment he saw the hoverboard burst into flames while it was charging.
"So much smoke started coming out. Then all of a sudden it went boom and exploded," the teenager said.
"My first instinct was to get out the door so I grabbed Karen because she's the youngest and I shouted 'Tony come on', so I grabbed them and I took them out."
Tony, whose family are now living with friends, said all his possessions had been obliterated.
"Everything in there was a good memory to me... now it's just burnt, all gone," the nine-year-old said.
The explosion caused a large amount of damage
The living room has been left gutted while the rest of the house is heavily smoke-logged
The fire service said the teenager took the two children to an upstairs bedroom from where he called emergency services and followed instructions to stop smoke entering the room.
Mark Helliwell, from the fire service, said: "The teenager's quick-thinking actions are certainly commendable and he later said that he remembered the fire service advice given in his school talk in Year 5."
He said the fire "quickly took hold of the sofa and spread rapidly throughout the living room".
The fire service said it was difficult to confirm the exact cause of the fire, but it was "likely that lithium batteries in the hoverboard overheated and exploded or ignited".