The residents of a unit in the eastern suburbs of Sydney suffered a fire disaster after leaving an e-bike lithium battery charging overnight. On January 19th, a fire broke out on Curlewis Street, North Bondi before 4 a.m. Four South American travelers were inside the unit when one of them heard a small explosion and alerted the others. They managed to escape but lost everything they owned.
Two of the occupants managed to flee through the front door while the other two escaped through the window due to thick smoke. Firefighters contained and extinguished the fire, in part due to the unit’s automatic fire door that limited the spread of fire and smoke. Although the fire did not spread to other buildings, 14 people living in the adjacent units were evacuated as a precaution. The unit occupants lost all their belongings, including passports, phones, and bank records.
An investigation determined that an e-bike battery caused the fire. The unit and its contents were heavily damaged, with a bedroom being completely destroyed. Authorities warned against charging lithium batteries at night, as two recent fire incidents occurred while residents were asleep.
The fire occurred following a proposal from a peak body representing strata owners in Australia to ban apartment residents from charging e-bikes or e-scooters inside their homes due to an increase in lithium-battery-related fires. They advised caution and sensible use, especially for modified, damaged, or unsafe electric products. In the year leading up to December 8, 2023, there were 185 lithium battery-related fires recorded, an increase from 165 incidents in 2022.