Pensioner left homeless by electric scooter fire warns lithium-ion batteries are a 'ticking time bomb'

Darryl Hurst had popped two sleeping pills, finished a cup of tea and was getting ready for bed when he heard his daughter-in-law's screams.

An electric scooter on charge in the garage had sparked a fierce blaze that quickly engulfed his two-storey home in South Townsville.

"By the time I got from my room to the stairwell, there was already fire coming through into the stairwell and the verandah," Mr Hurst said.

"Within five minutes the house was gone.

"It's one of the worst fires I've ever seen — if I would've laid down, I wouldn't have woken up, I wouldn't have made it out."

Mr Hurst could not afford insurance on the house, where he lived for 37 years.

The disability pensioner is now homeless and has spent the past three months living in a camper trailer in the backyard.

He said he wished he had known how dangerous e-scooter batteries could be before it was too late.

"It has absolutely shattered me."

Mr Hurst's daughter-in-law, Alexia Tanner, was in bed about a metre away from where the fire started.

"The firies said we should go buy a lottery ticket because we're very lucky to be alive," she said.

Batteries blamed for hundreds of blazes

Lithium-ion batteries have been the reported cause of about 500 fires across Queensland since July 2021, according to data from the Queensland Fire Department (QFD).

That includes almost 240 residential structure fires.

The rechargeable batteries power everyday items like mobile phones, laptops, power tools, e-scooters and e-bikes.

When purchased from a reputable retailer and used correctly, QFD Superintendent Mark Halverson said the fire risk was "quite low".

But second-hand, damaged or faulty products, including after-market chargers, could put consumers at risk.

"That fire could be catastrophic at some times, and can even result in explosion," Superintendent Halverson said.

He said lithium-ion batteries provided a growing and unique challenge for firefighters across the country.

He said even once a blaze was seemingly extinguished, it could restart hours or even days later because of heat contained inside the battery pack.

Advice for consumers

Earlier this year, a coroner found an incompatible e-scooter charger was the "most likely" cause of an explosion and blaze that claimed a young Queensland man's life in 2022.

Two people were left in a critical condition in April after suffering extensive burns in a Brisbane unit fire sparked by a charging e-scooter.

Superintendent Halverson urged people to keep an eye on their devices while they were charging.

"Don't put your charger on overnight while you're sleeping," he said.

He said scooters should be charged outside wherever possible and stored in a dry, cool area.

"Also check your products regularly to make sure that there isn't any sign of damage," he said.

"An e-scooter or a bike, if it's involved in some sort of a collision or crash, needs to be checked to ensure that there hasn't been damage to the battery pack or the cells that are contained inside that battery pack."

Mr Hurst is not sure what caused the e-scooter battery in his garage to spark.

He hopes his traumatic experience will serve as a warning for others.

"Please don't charge the batteries in your house; charge them out the back out in the yard," Mr Hurst said.

"We still had batteries that were bubbling a month and a half later."

His house has been earmarked for demolition.