Firefighters rush to Marrickville to battle potential E-bike blaze

Firefighters have extinguished a blaze in a Marrickville unit building, with investigations pointing to an e-bike as the likely cause.

A blaze that tore through a Marrickville apartment complex in the early hours of Monday morning is believed to have started from an e-bike battery. Picture: Thomas Henry

Fire investigations believe an e-bike is to blame for a unit fire in Sydney’s inner west overnight.

Firefighters were called to the three-storey block on Pile St in Marrickville shortly before 2am following reports of a fire.

At least 20 people were evacuated from the complex as flames consumed the top floor.

“It took crews about 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze, an e-bike was found in one of the rooms and is the likely cause of the fire,” NSW Fire and Rescue Superintendent Adam Dewberry said.

A concerned resident who wished to remain anonymous called emergency services after hearing the sound of an alarm and seeing black smoke pouring from the balcony of the top-floor unit.

“There was a lot of banging, I honestly thought it was a car alarm at first but then I saw the smoke so immediately called the fire brigade,” the resident said.

“They turned up very quickly, they told us that an e-bike battery started the fire… it’s worrying because he has a lot more of them in his garage which is right next to the gas main.”

Another resident reported seeing the owner of the unit fleeing the scene before firefighters arrived.

The burnt out shell of the top-storey apartment has now been boarded up, but residents are concerned about the remaining e-bikes and the potential fire risk they pose.

“We’re a fairly tight-knit community here,” one resident said.

“For something like this to happen in the middle of the night, when everyone is sleeping it’s pretty worrying.”

No injuries have been reported.

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Originally published as Firefighters rush to Marrickville to battle potential E-bike blaze