Fire authorities have warned parents about the risks in buying cheap, non-compliant lithium battery-powered operated toys and gifts this Christmas, using aftermarket or incorrect chargers and leaving devices unattended while charging.
When overheated or damaged, lithium-ion batteries may trigger fierce fires that are difficult to extinguish and generate toxic smoke.
The Emergency Services Agency has attended around 20 e-scooter battery fires this year, more than it has seen before in a single year, and the proliferation of battery-operated toys and items on the shelves this year brings with a concern that buying cheap and non-compliant goods adds to the risk.
ESA Fire and Rescue's Superintendent in charge of community safety Greg Mason said the chief concern was around small and portable devices which were not covered by a relevant Australian standard, and could be subject to battery damage during their use, such as drones and radio-controlled cars.
Cheap battery-operated products bought online potentially may not satisfy Australian standards, a common issue found by the Australian consumer watchdog in its 2023 report into lithium-ion battery fire risks.
"It's those cheaper, less regulated devices that are a point of concern for us," Superintendent Mason said.
"The other real danger is around swapping one charger for another. We know that chargers are matched to the device. It's always important to use the correct charger for the device or toy or whatever it is."
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said that battery chargers should come with warnings attached to their cables and/or packaging that the products should not be used indoors, confined spaces or left unattended for extended periods due to the potential risk of failure and resultant fires. It says generic chargers should be avoided.
The warning signs of a failing battery with a fire risk are excessive heat generated by the device, a bulging of the battery which could suggest an internal failure, and/or a toxic odour which means the battery is "outgassing", possibly triggering a thermal runaway. In this occurs, the device should be taken off charge immediately.
"What we've seen is that lesser quality devices have more issues around being on charge to a point of overcharging, " Superintendent Mason said.
"If you look at some of the good battery-operated machinery such as battery hands tools, they've been around for a long time so those good manufacturers have the whole science sorted out better than the others may.
"As with a lot of things, you get what you pay for. There's the expectation that if you pay a little more, you can expect that device to meet the correct safety standards."
The ESA also advised that transportation devices, such as e-scooters and e-bikes, which are left on charge unattended should be left in a safe place "preferably outside the house and in a well-ventilated area, if that's possible".
Superintendent Mason said that "any damage at all" to a battery is a potential for an issue and "that could be either through dropping it or cutting it, or an impact of some kind".
Safe disposal of lithium-ion batteries is a focus of ACT City Services, which has urged consumers never to place batteries in household waste or recycling bins but dispose of them for free at one of the 60 B-cycle drop-off points around the territory.
