A product caught fire

The recurring products are well known: e-bikes and e-scooters, hoverboards, vape devices, power tool packs, phones and laptops, and portable chargers. Aftermarket and uncertified replacement batteries and chargers are heavily overrepresented, as are cells sold through online marketplaces with no meaningful safety certification.

Defect theories in these cases usually include manufacturing flaws in the cell, absent or inadequate battery management systems that should have prevented overcharge, and failure to warn about charging practices. Where a marketplace platform sold it, whether the platform itself can be held liable is an evolving question that varies by state and is worth asking about.

The common failure modes are recognizable to investigators: a failed thermostat or thermal cutoff, arcing at a connection, inadequate strain relief on a cord, a control board failure, and materials that weren't adequately flame-rated. Several of these product categories have extensive recall histories, and a prior recall on a similar model is powerful evidence.

Your homeowners or renters insurer will conduct its own investigation, and that's genuinely useful. Their interest overlaps with yours: if a product caused the fire, they want to recover what they paid out from the manufacturer through subrogation. Ask for their investigator's report and cooperate with it.

What you should not do is let anyone remove the appliance or debris. Insurers, landlords, and manufacturers all have reasons to take custody of it, and evidence that leaves under someone else's control is evidence you no longer have.