Lithium-ion batteries are to blame for five fires a week across NSW and the frequency of incidents is growing.
Fire and Rescue NSW crews responded to four separate incidents on Thursday alone after an exploding lithium-ion battery sparked a fire that killed two people earlier in March.
Nine fire trucks rushed to an address in Berkeley on the state’s Central Coast when an electric vehicle charging station caught alight about 5pm.
Firefighters feared multiple lithium-ion truck batteries were at risk of catching fire but ultimately were able to put out the blaze after a defensive perimeter was erected around the business.
In a separate incident, a maintenance worker found his toolbox ablaze in his ute in Tingira Heights in Lake Macquarie.
After he drove to a nearby fire station, crews submerged the battery in a container of water after noticing the cell was off-gassing and threatening to explode.
In a third incident, fire crews again submerged a battery in water after a fire broke out in the rear of a garbage truck in Sydney’s west.
In a fourth lithium-ion battery-related blaze, an e-bike caught fire on the third floor of a 10-storey apartment block in Sydney’s southwest requiring 25 firefights and four trucks at the scene.
The incidents follow the deaths of two people in a townhouse fire at Teralba in Newcastle on March 5.
An exploding lithium-ion battery sparked the blaze, which firefighters believe was the first fatal case in the state caused by a battery.
A total of 63 lithium-ion battery fires have been recorded so far in 2024, at a rate of 5.7 blazes a week.
Seven people have been injured in the fires.
The rate has increased from 5.2 a week in 2023, when 272 lithium-ion battery-related fires were recorded in 2023.
Thirty-eight people were injured in those incidents.
Authorities advise people not to leave devices charging while they sleep, near flammable materials or exits to a home to avoid dangerous fires.
