You don’t hear much noise in the town of Balclutha way down on the South Island of New Zealand. However the scenery along the banks of the Clutha River is pretty and there’s a natural waterfall too. This idyllic peace was shattered by the sound of emergency vehicles early in the morning of January 2, 2019.
There Was More Than a House on Fire in Balclutha
The Balclutha fire brigade turned out in force with appliances from two other towns. Soon there were 20 yellow safety jackets seemingly everywhere. News spread as fast as the fire. It had started in the kitchen of the bungalow and was soon in the roof.
The emergency services donned breathing apparatus and extinguished the fire. However there was something still shouldering in the kitchen that had them worried. “There are batteries burning in there,” Sergeant Stan Leishman called out. They’re puffing out smoke and they seem like they want to explode. The homeowner stepped up to explain:
The Batteries Belonged to the Solar Power System
The homeowner awoke to the smell of pungent smoke hours before dawn. There was no time to throw the house circuit breaker. He grabbed his family, evacuated the property, and called Balclutha emergency services.
It turned out he had lithium battery storage in his kitchen connected to solar panels on his roof. We’ll have to wait a while to learn why those batteries overheated at that time and caught fire. However, one thing seems abundantly clear with the wisdom of hindsight.
That battery storage should have been outside the house, not in the kitchen under the roof space. Or at the very least there should have been a fire alarm and smoke detector nearby. The additional appliances have returned to nearby Milton and Kaitangata. Peace and quite have returned to Balclutha.
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Preview Image: Balclutha and Its Famous Bridge
