Mobile phone batteries stored on balcony exploded like a bomb, residents poured into the street

The fire occurred around 19:00 in an apartment on the second floor of a 3-story building located on 3920th Street in the Karşıyaka neighborhood of the Kepez district.

According to the information obtained, citizens passing by noticed smoke coming from the apartment's balcony and reported the situation to the 112 Emergency Call Center.

Meanwhile, a person passing by rang the apartment building's doorbells one by one, warning the residents living in the building. In the fire, which grew in a short time, the flames engulfed the balcony and spread inside the house.

NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS WATCHED WITH ANXIOUS EYES

While the apartment residents, who were in a state of great panic, rushed out of their homes, neighborhood residents who heard the explosion sounds from the balcony also poured into the street in fear.

Teams from the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department, who arrived at the address in a short time, intervened in the flames, while neighborhood residents watched the teams' work with anxious eyes. The fire was extinguished after about 1.5 hours of work by the teams.

The fire caused extensive damage to the apartment. An elderly woman who was at home during the fire and went outside after being notified by her neighbors was seen to be in great fear.

"THE FLAMES HAD ENGULFED THE BALCONY"

It was alleged that the fire started from mobile phone batteries that the resident, who had previously been involved in the sale of mobile phone accessories, had left on the balcony after closing their business.

Stating that they learned about the fire through a phone call while they were out of the house for shopping, an apartment resident said, "It started around 19:00 in the evening, I had left the house to go shopping across the street.

My child called me from home and said, 'Dad, the building is on fire.' I came running, the balcony was completely engulfed in flames. It was burning very badly. The flames had completely surrounded the balcony," they said.

"WE EVACUATED THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY"

Stating that most of the apartment residents were in their homes at the time of the fire, the apartment resident said, "Most of the building residents were at home. We evacuated the building completely immediately, and I also turned off the main circuit breaker right away so it wouldn't spread further.

It caught fire from the materials on the balcony, the flames started from there. What caused it depends on the details to be provided by the fire department," they stated.

On the other hand, after the work of the fire crews, it was seen that there were many mobile phone batteries among the materials thrown down from the balcony.