COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Fire investigators from the Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office announced they have completed their investigation into the fire at the Coeur d’Alene Police Department building. Fire Marshal investigators say one of the batteries on the department’s recently acquired e-bike’s clearly showed evidence of a catastrophic failure.
The bike was being charged after being used that evening by police.
“This was an unfortunate and unexpected failure that caused the fire and is being ruled an accident,” said State Fire Marshal Knute Sandahl. A forensic analysis will be conducted by the city’s insurance company, but the results will not be known for several months. “This is pretty typical for an insurance company because the failed product is so new, and the loss is so great,” Sandahl added.
According to Idaho State Fire Marshals, officers assigned to bike patrol had received training on the bicycles use and charging after use, before they were placed into service. They said that an examination of the charging station showed that it was properly plugged into an outlet and there was no evidence of misuse or prior damage of either the e-bicycle or charging unit.
WATCH RELATED: Fire destroys Coeur d'Alene Police Department's equipment and offices
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