A lady living in Leichhardt, Sydney, Australia returned home on her electric bicycle one evening and popped the battery on charge. She later said “she followed the instructions in the e-bike manual, which said it was safe to charge overnight”. Stuff.Co describes how she heard a loud bang followed by an orange flash the next morning. Her life and her home were set to change radically that Sunday 28 April, 2019.
An Orange Flash Startles Melanie
Alarmed, Melanie jumped off her bed where she had been watching a podcast about enlightenment. However, her meditation was soon replaced by panic as she glanced down the passage to the kitchen. That’s because the e-bike battery she left on charge overnight was ablaze following the alarming orange flash.
It was a hot fire, she said as she recalled two wooden bench stools and the curtains flaring. “Some fires you might run towards with a blanket but this was not that kind of fire.” The sixty-three-year-old lady was on the ball. First, she rushed outside to turn off the power. Then she raced inside to recover her hard drives and an old dress to ward off the morning chill.
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Firefighters Arrive Promptly But Too Late
This story that began with an orange flash will have a few more twists and turns yet and we follow it with interest. The police referred the event to the New South Wales Coroner to establish the cause of the fire. However, the supplier of the electric bicycle already suspected what happened. “It’s a known issue with lithium batteries though it’s unprecedented for one of our customers to lose their house. It’s a nightmare scenario,” he said. Apparently, he had already registered a recall of faulty batteries with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The ebike is one of her few surviving possessions as she left it outside after removing the battery. “I’m back on it – I love it,” she said. “You could be hit by a bus and it doesn’t mean you’ll be hit by a bus again.”
Related:
Scooter Batteries Spark Fiery Exchange
Electric Bikes Are Attracting Older Riders
Preview Image: Shared Bike Path in Leichhardt, Sydney, Australia
Video Share Link: https://youtu.be/u_y27m4Q8b4
