THE Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is urging Western Australians to remain vigilant as lithium-ion batteries continue to pose a serious and growing fire risk in homes.

So far this year, firefighters have responded to 94 lithium-ion battery fires, an average of three every week, sparked by common household items such as laptops, power banks, e-rideables and power tools.

Lithium-ion battery blamed for Aveley house fire reported an Aveley home was destroyed on Sunday, July 20 after a fire caused by a lithium-ion battery caught alight in the garage.

Man taken to hospital after house fire reported that another lithium-ion battery fire resulted in a Forrestfield man in his 30s, suffering from smoke inhalation, being taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital.

DFES said of the 94 lithium-ion battery fires this year 55 were structure fires and 19 of the fires were sparked from e-rideables.

Nearly one third involved batteries igniting even when they were not on charge.

While it is difficult for fire investigators to determine exactly why a battery has failed due to fire damage, poor quality, damaged or over-charged products are proven factors.

Batteries can enter a dangerous state known as thermal runaway, causing them to overheat, explode or emit toxic gas.

Thermal runaway can result in a fire starting several metres away from the device, potentially engulfing an entire room or home in minutes.

With millions of lithium-ion battery products entering Australian homes every year, Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm is urging all householders to take extra precautions, regardless of how small or common the device may be.

“Lithium-ion batteries are generally safe if purchased from trusted retailers and handled responsibly but compromised products that enter into thermal runaway can escalate quickly and cause devastating housefires,” he said.

“Be careful where you store your lithium-ion battery products and ensure they’re charged on a hard surface, away from flammable items such as beds, carpet or couches.

“I also urge people to install and check their smoke alarms, particularly in garages — we see a lot of fires starting in carports as people often store their power tools and other devices there.”

While lithium-ion batteries are a growing concern, Mr Klemm said it was important that the public was aware of other traditional home fire hazards such as kitchen fires, unattended heaters and candles.

“So far this winter, there have been 185 residential structure fires in WA – that’s an average of two a day,” he said.

“DFES typically sees a spike in house fires in the winter months as people spend more time indoors and leave heating appliances on.

“This is a timely reminder for the community to be vigilant around other fire hazards such as candles, unattended heaters and kitchen fires.”

To reduce the risk of lithium-ion battery fires, DFES recommends purchasing reputable products, sourcing replacement batteries from the original supplier and regularly checking for signs of physical damage and overheating.

Set a timer that will remind you to remove a fully charged device before you go to sleep; and install a hard-wired interconnected smoke or heat alarm in areas of the home where you are charging devices.

For more information visit www.dfes.wa.gov.au/homefire