Two electric micromobility vehicles caught on fire at the University of Maryland this week.
The Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department was dispatched to the computer science building at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and found a smoldering electric skateboard.
The skateboard fire came two days after a similar incident Sunday where an electric scooter caught on fire in the lobby of La Plata Hall.
The department put out the fire in La Plata Hall around 12:30 p.m on Sunday. This university’s fire marshal determined the fire was caused by the e-scooter’s lithium ion battery. No injuries were reported.
The indoor fire in La Plata Hall occurred despite a policy prohibiting electric micromobility vehicles inside campus buildings, including all dorms, academic buildings and South Campus Commons and Courtyards apartments.
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There are few outdoor outlets at this university, which means students often have difficulty charging e-scooters without taking them indoors, The Diamondback reported in October.
Maya Hoffman, a sophomore public health science major, was returning to her dorm room in La Plata Hall when the fire alarm sounded on Sunday. Hoffman and the other residents waited outside the dorm for about an hour before they were allowed back in the building.
“That was really traumatic, seeing the picture of the fire, coming back in and smelling the lithium fire smoke,” Hoffman said.
The rule prohibiting micromobility vehicles inside campus buildings is difficult to enforce, according to La Plata Hall resident assistant Eli Rossini. RAs are rarely aware of who brings an e-scooter indoors, Rossini said.
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“You also get notifications about when there’ll be room inspection so that’s also very easy to hide,” Rossini, a sophomore philosophy, politics and economics major, said.
More than 1,700 students at this university registered e-scooters when the Department of Transportation Services launched micromobility vehicle registration last semester.
This university’s Resident Life department sent an email to students who live in dorms, Commons and Courtyards on Monday reminding them of the e-scooter policy.
Residents found with an e-scooter indoors can face administrative or disciplinary action and potentially be removed from on-campus housing, the email said.
In the event of a fire, e-scooter owners will be held financially responsible for damages, the email added.
“The fire risk from electric scooters is real and significant,” Dennis Passarella-George, the Resident Life director, wrote in the email.
