Residents reported hearing “popping” sounds and smelling smoke from a small e-bike rental shop on the ground floor of the building on Shepherd Street,near the intersection with Broadway.
An e-bike has erupted on fire and forced an evacuation of a building in Sydney.
Firefighters were called to the shop and forced open a roller door to get in. They found a large amount of smoke and an e-bike battery smouldering inside.
Residents from the three-storey Axis apartments building above the shop were evacuated by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus. No injuries were reported.
The scorched battery was handed over to the owner in a large container of water.
The cause of the blaze isn’t confirmed yet and an investigation is ongoing. Police and ambulance officers attended the incident as well as three crews from Fire and Rescue NSW.
The e-bike store caught fire in Shepherd Street,Chippendale.Flavio Brancaleone
There have been almost 100 lithium-ion battery fires recorded in NSW so far this year at an average of 5.7 per week,according to Fire and Rescue NSW which describes the issue as “the fastest growing fire risk in NSW”.
The most recent incident before Sunday took place on Thursday at Narraweena on the northern beaches,when four people escaped an intense house fire thought to have been caused by an e-scooter on charge.
“The nature of lithium-ion battery fires is extremely volatile,” said Fire and Rescue NSW Inspector Steven Perkins after that incident. “When these devices fail,they tend to do so extremely quickly and with great intensity.”
Lithium-ion batteries can catch fire spontaneously if there are minor defects from the manufacturing process.
There have been almost 100 lithium-ion battery fires recorded in NSW so far this year.Flavio Brancaleone
Fire and Rescue NSW recommends against overcharging batteries or using non-compliant battery charging equipment,and not charging devices overnight or while not at home.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights..