Firefighters say it's likely lithium batteries may have caused a unit fire last night that killed a man in Punchbowl, Sydney's south-west last night
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00:00 Well, it's understood the 54-year-old man was eating downstairs with two women when
00:06 the fire broke out upstairs of this townhouse.
00:10 It was around 10 o'clock that firefighters arrived at this scene where the man was found
00:15 unconscious on the bathroom floor.
00:17 It's believed he tried to fight the fire himself by taking a fire extinguisher up to the upstairs
00:21 bathroom to fight the fire, but unfortunately he was inundated with smoke and was then unconscious.
00:29 Firefighters were then able to perform CPR outside the property until paramedics were
00:33 able to arrive, but unfortunately his injuries were too severe and he died at the scene.
00:38 Now here in Punchbowl on Highclere Street, it's quite close to a Marianite church just
00:43 across the road, so many people were gathered at the church overnight for their evening
00:48 mass.
00:49 That is when one witness took it upon himself to try and enter the home to save the man,
00:54 but unfortunately he was also inundated by the smoke and he couldn't save the man.
01:00 Here's what he had to say a short time ago.
01:02 I ran because the lady, she was very scared.
01:04 I ran inside and I tried to go upstairs and to look in the rooms, but I couldn't go to
01:10 the left room.
01:11 I just looked in the right-hand side, but I couldn't see anything.
01:15 And then the fire was full and smoke everywhere, so I came, I went back again.
01:20 I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't see anything and I couldn't hear.
01:24 I tried many times calling, is there anybody here, anybody here?
01:28 Even the first floor and on the ground floor no one was there.
01:34 And Courtney, do we know how the fire started?
01:39 Well while firefighters don't yet know the exact cause of the fire, they do say that
01:43 lithium-ion batteries may have contributed to it after finding four batteries on charge
01:48 upstairs.
01:50 Now this has become an increasingly big problem for firefighters due to the rise in popularity
01:54 of rechargeable batteries.
01:55 We've seen that in the US and the UK and now the same is coming to Australia.
02:01 Now it's particularly hard for firefighters or other people to extinguish blazes just
02:05 because of the fumes and smoke that's associated with lithium-ion batteries when they are caught
02:09 on fire.
02:10 The New South Wales RFS told us about this a short time ago.
02:15 Firefighters can start quickly and burn with extreme heat and are difficult to extinguish.
02:23 They also produce toxic gases that can incapacitate people if they attempt to firefight.
02:36 With eight deaths recorded so far by the New South Wales RFS this year alone, most of them
02:41 are contributing to the fire.
02:45 The best advice firefighters can give us is to not leave anything with lithium-ion batteries
02:50 on charge overnight on flammable surfaces such as bedding or bedroom furniture where
02:56 it can easily catch a light and don't overcharge them for long periods.
02:59 They also say that if you do encounter something on fire that has a lithium-ion battery, to
03:03 try and turn it off at the power point if it's safe to do so and submerge it in water
03:07 if it's small and portable like a mobile phone.
03:10 If you are unable to do so, they recommend you vacate the property and call 000.
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