Australian families are being warned to take care this holiday season if they find lithium-ion battery-powered presents under the Christmas tree.
Insurers, fire authorities and the consumer watchdog have all sounded the alarm, especially following a surge in sales of private-use electric scooters and bikes in recent years.
Li-ion battery-fuelled fires are generally rare compared to the number of devices on the market, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
But with more Li-ion powered devices now in homes, the risk of serious fires is increasing because many people don't know how to store or charge products safely.
In July, 14 fire trucks were called to an eastern Sydney home after an e-bike with a faulty battery exploded, sparking a blaze that burned through the ground floor and destroyed a car in the garage.
Then in October, an e-scooter left to charge overnight in a backpacker hostel in Sydney's east exploded, causing significant damage to a room and leaving one person with burns.
It took firefighters a while to extinguish both blazes because of the self-sustaining nature of Li-ion fires - they are hard to put out and can spontaneously reignite.
Rechargeable Li-ion batteries are contained in common household items, including most mobile phones, laptops, tablets and power tools, as well as e-scooters and e-bikes.
The ACCC estimates the average household will have about 33 devices powered by Li-ion batteries by 2026.
An ACCC survey this year of more than 4000 Australians found 54 per cent used aftermarket or low cost chargers and 39 per cent didn't know how to correctly dispose of lithium-ion batteries.
And many people said they left devices unattended while charging.
Data on Li-ion battery incidents is disparate and the ACCC suspects there is significant under reporting.
Its own numbers suggest there's been a decrease in the number of incidents involving mobile phones and computer batteries in the past five years.
But there's also been a rise in reports involving e-scooters in the past couple of years.
"All but one report involved spontaneous combustion, overheating or a fire and four (50 per cent) of these incidents resulted in an injury to the consumer," the ACCC said in a recent consumer safety report on the subject.
A Brisbane apartment was severely damaged in August when an e-scooter exploded after being left to charge overnight - because the charger was the wrong one.
Insurer Suncorp says Christmas is already a high-risk period for house fires, even without the risks posed by the incorrect handling of Li-ion batteries.
While the number of house fire claims has decreased over the last decade, there has been a general shift towards higher severity claims, group executive general manager of home claims customers Alli Smith says.
“What our data is showing us is that small fire claims like those generally caused by cooking are decreasing, which makes sense with environmental trends like the rise of food delivery services and the increased use of items like air fryers which don’t use a lot of oil," she said.
“But when there is a house fire, it’s more severe, notably due to items like batteries, electrical faults and appliances making it so much worse."
This year, Suncorp says, 160 claims were for large fires over $400,000, up from 82 almost 10 years ago.
NSW Fire and Rescue has recorded 185 fires involving Li-ion batteries across the state so far this year, up from 165 last year.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services has reported more than 60 Li-ion battery fires for the first half of 2023/24, compared to 127 in 2022/23.
Victorian fire authorities have responded to at least one significant battery-related fire each week.
The Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) is concerned fires at recycling centres will increase over the holiday period, due to the incorrect disposal of Li-ion batteries.
It's almost a year since a recycling plant in Canberra was destroyed by a fire caused by multiple Li-ion batteries.
In the past year, there have been more than one thousand battery-related fire incidents reported in the waste and recycling sectors nationwide, amounting to more than three a day, ACOR CEO Suzanne Toumbourou warned this month.
“The current number of incidents is only the beginning," she added.
“Our urgent plea to the community is to never bin a battery and check for safe disposal locations."
You can check for safe disposal locations via the Recycle Mate website and app.
TOP FIVE TIPS TO CARE FOR YOUR BATTERIES:
* Monitor charging times (you might want to set a timer) and disconnect products once fully charged
* Charge batteries and products away from combustible materials like as beds, sofas or carpet
* Store batteries and gadgets in cool, dry places and out of direct sunlight, including while charging
* Don't use batteries, products or chargers that are overheating or showing signs swelling, leaking or venting gas (you may hear a hissing sound)
* Use the designated charger for the product
