Scooter battery explodes, leaving Hervey Bay family homeless before Christmas

A Hervey Bay family has lost its home and most of their belongings just before Christmas after a fire caused by an exploding scooter battery broke out.

Police investigators have now headed into the George St apartment block to determine what caused the fire.

A family’s Hervey Bay home has gone up in flames just two weeks before Christmas, with a scooter that was being charged at the time being blamed for causing the blaze.

Multiple crews were called to the property on George St, near its intersection with Alice St and just north of Pialba State School, just after 10am on Monday.

A Queensland Fire Department spokesman said the fire appeared to have started in a bedroom on the top floor of the two-storey home.

Firefighters arrived to find black smoke billowing from the building.

The fire was contained to the top level of the two-storey apartment complex after one hour and 15 minutes.

All occupants escaped, although the tenant in the apartment where the fire started and their neighbour directly below them were sent to Hervey Bay Hospital with smoke inhalation.

A GoFundMe page set up for the family has already raised more than $4000 after the family was left in emergency accommodation in the wake of the incident.

House fire in Hervey Bay on Monday, December 16.

The fundraising page said the battery for the scooter had exploded and the family had lost their belongings, including furniture, food and clothing.

The family of six, including two adults and four children, had been left without a home ahead of Christmas.

So far $4660 has been raised from 50 donations to help the family in the wake of the fire.

It comes little more than a year after a Bundaberg man was killed in a similar incident.

A single, stay-at-home dad with two children and one on the way, Aaron Mockeridge, aged in his 40s, lived in an East Bundaberg unit on Ann St in October 2023.

When the unit caught fire on Saturday morning firefighters arrived to contain it and sadly found Mr Mockeridge deceased and the unit gutted by the fire.

As the news spread, close friends shared on Facebook that they believed the fire was caused by an e-scooter battery exploding in Mr Mockeridge’s bedroom.

The State Government has issued a warning in relation to scooters and other lithium-ion battery-operated devices after a spate of fires, urging people to ensure chargers meet Australian standards and not to buy second-hand equipment as well as other safety tips.

Emergency services were kept busy in Hervey Bay last week.

Fire crews were also called to scene of a house fire at Booral.

Multiple emergency services converged on the site on Maddever Road at Booral, between Hervey Bay and River Heads about 10am on Wednesday where the blaze was “well involved” after reportedly starting in the kitchen.

A spokeswoman from the Queensland Ambulance Service said one person had been assessed by paramedics, cleared of any injuries and not needed to be taken to hospital.