A man was left with minor burns and at least 40 residents were forced to evacuate a 10-storey building.
A man was left with minor burns and at least 40 residents were forced to evacuate a 10-storey building in Bankstown about 6.30am after an e-bike caught fire in one of the units.
The building's sprinkler system helped contain the flames coming from the third floor as firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze and clear the smoke from the building. A unit caught on fire at Bankstown this morning. Fire and Rescue NSW said the lithium-ion battery on the e-bike had failed and gone into "thermal runway" - a process that causes a rise in temperature and fire.
"These are the projectiles that came out of the battery," Station Officer Sav Giannakis said at a press conference today."As a result of the sprinkler system going off, we have had significant water damage to level three and one gentleman was very lucky to get out with some minor burns."That man was taken to hospital and no other injuries were reported."We saw flames, people screaming, we opened up the door and the corridor was filled with smoke," one resident said.