A fire that destroyed a family home in Odenton, Maryland on Tuesday morning has drawn attention from the electric vehicle community after images shared on social media showed a Toyota Sienna, as well as a Rivian R1T and a Ford Mustang Mach-E, damaged in the blaze.
According to an early report shared by FOX Baltimore journalist Rebecca Pryor, local investigators initially believed a Rivian R1T caught fire and triggered the blaze that consumed the Brown family’s two-story house.
However, within hours, authorities revised their assessment.
“Update, they no longer believe the Rivian was the source of the fire,” Pryor wrote in a follow-up post on X. “Investigators say it was likely an EV charger in the garage. Nothing has been confirmed yet though.”
On Facebook, the homeowner, provided more context saying the fire originated on the opposite wall of the garage—away from both the Ford Mach-E and the Rivian truck.
“[…] It was not the Rivian’s fault. Fire started on opposite wall in garage then spread to other car in garage before vehicles outside caught fire,” the homeowner wrote on social media
The Brown family, including their pets, escaped with only one minor injury reported. A GoFundMe campaign launched by June Bailey has already raised over $52,000, surpassing its $50,000 target in less than 24 hours.
For anyone interested in contributing to the GoFundMe, here’s the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-browns-after-house-fire
Rivian said earlier this week that Aidan Gomez, co-founder and CEO of AI startup Cohere and a former Google Researcher, has joined its board of directors (BoD).
Over the weekend, Rivian‘s software chief Wassym Bensaid said the company is working on an integration with the Apple Watch that will allow users to control and monitor their vehicles directly from their wrists.
