Firefighters quickly extinguished a fire in a shed at Singleton Heights on Friday morning, reportedly caused by a burning lithium battery.
A vehicle parked inside was destroyed in the fire, as well as various other contents, prompting Firefighters to urge residents to store batteries correctly, ideally in cool and dry places away from direct sunlight.
Firefighters with the state's Brigade were dispatched from Singleton and Branxton stations about 11am on January 19, and arrived at the scene at Rhodes Place in Singleton Heights with officers of the local Highway Patrol to find the shed burning.
The fire was extinguished in about 10 minutes, local police said on Saturday, adding that officers quickly determined the cause was accidental. There were no reports of injury.
The scene was left in the hands of local firefighters, who said they arrived to find heavy smoke billowing from the tin and fibro shed. Firefighters from the Singleton brigade station suggested online that the cause had been a lithium battery combustion.
Lithium-ion battery fires are typically caused by a thermal runaway - a chain reaction that occurs in the flammable materials that are used to build the battery when can be triggered by the unit overheating, being punctured, or suffering an electrical fault or sort circuit during charging.
Temperatures recording at the Bureau of Meteorology's observation post at Singleton exceeded 30 degrees for the last three consecutive days, and had reached the mid-20s at the time of the fire.
The Australian consumer watchdog has warned of the dangers of improperly stored or faulty lithium batteries, after recording a 92 per cent increase in reported overheating, swelling and fires in smaller devices 2022 compared to 2020.
Most laptops, mobile phones, e-bikes, e-scooters, power banks and power tools contain lithium-ion batteries because of their compact size, high energy output and option to recharge, but if they are not correctly manufactured or stored, they're prone to vent toxic fumes, explode or catch fire.
Firefighters and the ACCC have urged users to follow manufacturer instructions to store and charge lithium batteries and, in the case of smaller consumer products, to report lithium-ion battery related incidents or associated injuries to the ACCC.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident in the early hours of Saturday morning, firefighters extinguished a burning car that was found fully alight around 1.45am at Gateshead.
Firefighters spent around 30 minutes extinguishing the blaze at Carbeen Street near Cadaga Road, a spokesperson for the Brigade said.
