E-Bike battery explosion destroys families Thabeban home

A Queensland family is homeless after a fire reportedly started by a charging e-bike battery engulfed their home.

The neighbour of a Bundaberg family says they “have lost everything” after their home was destroyed in a blaze early Wednesday morning.

Multiple firefighting crews fought for more than an hour to extinguish the fire which destroyed a house at Thabeban, leaving one person in hospital.

First responders were called to the scene, near the intersection of Paradise Ave and Dawn Parade, at 9.15am.

A Queensland Fire Department spokesman said the house was engulfed by the time fireys arrived.

A shed next to house was also ablaze.

Crew were able to bring the fire under control by 9.30, but were still damping down hot spots for an hour afterwards.

Two people, a man in his 50s and a woman in her 20s, were assessed by paramedics.

The man was taken to Bundaberg Hospital in a stable condition with smoke inhalation and discharged later in the day.

Ally Truswell, a neighbour and friend of the family, said it was “devastating”.

She said one of the family members had arrived home and sat down in the living room when a lithium battery from an e-bike exploded in the kitchen.
The other family members were asleep.

Neighbour Ally Truswell said the fire was started by an E-bike battery which had been charging overnight in the kitchen.

Ms Truswell said the e-bike had been left to charge overnight.
“I heard something pop but I thought it was a car accident,” Ms Truswell said.
“There was siren after siren, I walked onto the street and saw the house just up in flames,” Ms Truswell said.
“They’ve lost everything,” she said.

The residence is a government housing home and Ms Truswell said it was being boarded up after being determined unsafe following the fire.

The family were unable to collect the small amount of “salvageable” belongings they had left, she said, leaving one woman distraught.
“She’s worked so hard and it’s just all gone,” she said.

Two cats, birds, and a snake were in the home too, with one of the cats still unaccounted for.

A family of four have been left devastated after a fire destroyed their Thabeban home.

Ms Truswell has set up a GoFundMe for the homes occupants, asking anyone for assistance to help the group cover immediate needs such as clothing, food, and temporary housing, as well as assist in rebuilding their lives from scratch.

Investigations are ongoing.

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Originally published as E-Bike battery explosion destroys families Thabeban home