Hoverboard catches fire at Deerbrook mall, evacuations ordered

Reports of hoverboards spontaneously igniting have come from nine different states now, and some of those reports point to the battery as the problem.

The latest incident in Humble, north of Houston, was at the Deerbrook Mall on Monday afternoon. Part of the mall had to be evacuated after a fire at the hoverboard kiosk Xcel Toys and Boards.

One of the witnesses said the incident has him questioning the safety of hoverboards.

"As we were walking through, you could hear what sounded like two firecrackers going off, and when we saw it what is was two hoverboards that were next to each other that caught fire. And a third one was about to catch fire but…these guys came in with the fire extinguishers to put it out," said Chris Daniel, a witness and Harris County District Clerk.

After it was put out, white smoke billowed throughout the mall. There were no injuries reported, but people were evacuated.

"It shut down the mall. We were all escorted out by mall security staff…about the only thing that was concerning to me is that I didn't hear any of fire alarms go off or any emergency lights," said Daniel.

Only part of the mall was evacuated and even then, people said they came back in after 5 to 10 minutes.

The mall responded in a statement:

This afternoon there was an incident with a hoverboard at Deerbrook Mall which resulted in a small fire that was quickly contained. As a precaution, Humble Fire Department responded. Thankfully, there were no injuries or property damage. Deerbrook Mall remains open at this time.

While you can still bring hoverboards to most establishments, they aren't welcome everywhere. Concerns about the safety of hoverboards have led some major airlines, like Delta and United, to ban passengers from bringing them onto planes.

Officials have not revealed what brand the hoverboard that caught fire is yet.

A mall spokesperson has said safety is their top priority and that they are evaluating the situation to decide whether they'll allow the kiosk to stay open.

People posted several photos and videos on social media of the incident, including Harris County District Clerk Chris Daniel.

Hover board caught on fire, right in front of our eyes in the Deerbrook mall. We thought it was a bomb going off at first.