Boronia Heights woman treated for significant burns in hospital after alleged e-scooter

Police and fire officers are analysing the remnants of a burned e-scooter after a southside woman suffered significant burns to much of her body overnight.

A NSW house was burned after a lithium-ion battery fire last year. Picture: NEWS.COM.AU

Police and fire investigators are examining the burned remnants of an e-scooter after a woman was left with serious burns when a fire broke out in a parked car south of Brisbane on Wednesday.

Emergency services were called to a home at Town Court, Boronia Heights, in Logan where it was reported a woman had suffered significant burns after a fire in a car boot around 6.45pm.

Initial reports suggested the e-scooter caught fire while in the boot of a black MG HS which was parked outside a house.

Emergency services were unable to confirm how the woman was burned but initial investigations included looking at how the e-scooter was removed from the car’s boot.

The woman, in her twenties, suffered significant burns to her chest, arms and legs, with the fire extinguished before fire officers, police and paramedics arrived.

Police are fire investigators are analysing the remnants of an e-scooter after a southside woman suffered significant burns from a fire believed to have started in a car boot.

A QFES spokesman said investigations were ongoing and a police spokesman said the incident was not being treated as suspicious.

Last year, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services reported more than 100 fires caused by lithium-ion batteries, a similar figure to the 107 reported in 2022.

In 2022, a 22-year-old man died when a scooter battery caught fire in his caravan in Logan Central.

His pregnant partner sustained burns to 80 per cent of her body and had to be placed in an induced coma.

Electrochemistry professor at England’s Newcastle University Paul Christensen said lithium-ion batteries could be dangerous if overcharged.

He warned people about the lithium-ion batteries which are used in devices ranging from phones to electric cars.

“In my view, the penetration of these fantastic devices into all levels of our society has far outstripped our knowledge of the risks and hazards,” Professor Christensen said.

“I’m not trying to demonise them at all. They’re regarded as essential in our fight to decarbonise the planet.”

“However, if a battery is overcharged, overheats or sustains damage, it has the high likelihood of generating ‘huge quantities of explosive and toxic gas’, known as thermal runaway.

“If that gas gets out in an uncontrolled fashion, it can – and has – caused rocket-like flames or even explosions.”