_Incident · Property damage_

# Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet

Canonical ID: `5ffcfb24-4d5c-49c7-94ee-8840b8aea17f`

- **Occurred:** 2018-12-14
- **Kind:** `property_damage`
- **Status (derived):** active
- **Model:** [Kiwibot Delivery Robot](/models/kiwibot-delivery-robot.md) (id: `2d1c5596-b3f0-491b-9cbc-b822584584f6`)
- **Company:** [Kiwibot](/companies/kiwibot.md)
- **Category:** [Sidewalk delivery](/sidewalk-delivery)

On Friday 14 December 2018 a battery in an idling [Kiwi delivery robot](/models/kiwi-delivery-robot.md) on the [UC Berkeley](/companies/uc-berkeley-bair.md) campus began smouldering and caught fire. A bystander used a fire extinguisher and the Berkeley Fire Department sprayed foam to prevent reignition; no injuries were reported. Kiwi said its investigation found the root cause was human error during battery replacement, when a defective battery was installed, leading to thermal runaway (company-stated). Outcome: Kiwi pulled all robots from service during the investigation, switched to hand delivery, and said it was adding battery-monitoring software and a new battery review process.

## Sources (2)

1. **Kiwi blames 'human error' after delivery robot catches fire** · https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/17/kiwi-blames-human-error-after-delivery-robot-catches-fire · 2018-12-17
2. **Robot delivery bot fire at university** · https://www.theregister.com/2018/12/17/robot_university_fire/ · 2018-12-17

## Response (1)

> **Kiwi (Kiwibot)** · operator · 2018-12-17
> "We learned that the root cause was human error when replacing the batteries": "a defective battery was put in place of a functioning one. This caused an exceedingly rare occurrence of the battery experiencing thermal runaway."


## Common questions

### What happened in Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet?

On Friday 14 December 2018 a battery in an idling [Kiwi delivery robot](/models/kiwi-delivery-robot.md) on the [UC Berkeley](/companies/uc-berkeley-bair.md) campus began smouldering and caught fire. A bystander used a fire extinguisher and the Berkeley Fire Department sprayed foam to prevent reignition; no injuries were reported. Kiwi said its investigation found the root cause was human error during battery replacement, when a defective battery was installed, leading to thermal runaway (company-stated). Outcome: Kiwi pulled all robots from service during the investigation, switched to hand delivery, and said it was adding battery-monitoring software and a new battery review process.

### When did this incident occur?

The incident is recorded as occurring on December 14, 2018 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.

### What robot was involved in Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet?

[Kiwibot Delivery Robot](/models/kiwibot-delivery-robot.md) is the recorded robot involved in this incident.

### Has anyone responded to Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet?

1 response is recorded on the DEPLOY registry, from Kiwi ([Kiwibot](/companies/kiwibot.md)). Each response is append-only with structured provenance.

### What is the current status of Kiwibot delivery robot catches fire on UC Berkeley campus; company pulls fleet?

This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.


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