A 15-year-old Oregon boy has spoken out about the terrifying moments after his e-bike battery exploded and destroyed his family’s home.
Preston Williams, 15, had been riding his e-bike in Troutdale on Thursday evening before returning to the two-story multifamily residence, according to statements he gave to KOIN. The teen had recently repaired his bike and left the battery unplugged in the living room, where he soon detected an ominous odor.
“It popped the first time, and then I didn’t know if I should grab the battery and … see what would happen,” Williams said. He had been leaning in to smell the battery as it began smoking when the situation turned catastrophic.
The battery detonated in the living room with ferocious speed, sending the entire household into panic. Williams immediately called 911 and waited outside for emergency crews while his mother rushed upstairs to warn their neighbors.
Kelli Gasaway and her partner Anthony had only moved into the upper unit a few months earlier. Gasaway described the explosion’s violence in stark terms.
“It was like by the time I got out, there was already smoke completely engulfed in our apartment …before the flames were all the way through upstairs,” she said.
Gasaway compared the blast to “a hand grenade going off underneath you” as she and Anthony fled their new home. Gresham Fire and Rescue responded to the rapidly escalating inferno Thursday night, but the flames consumed the structure within minutes despite their immediate intervention.
All six tenants of the multifamily home escaped without injury. Fire officials confirmed the cause as a faulty e-bike battery explosion. The destruction was not without loss, however—a beloved family cat perished in the blaze.
Williams reflected on the narrow margin that separated survival from potential tragedy.
“The timing wise, like we could have been all asleep and it could have happened,” he cautioned. “I’m super grateful that everyone was awake.”
The teen’s observation underscores a growing pattern of lithium-ion battery failures in e-bikes and other personal mobility devices, which can enter thermal runaway with little warning and produce intense fires that spread faster than occupants can react. Degraded batteries often emit unusual odors as an early indicator of impending failure, a sign Williams noticed but could not act upon in time.