Wrong e-scooter charger led to fire, man's death

The death of a man - referred to as Tyson - was an accident after he suffered burns to 90 per cent of his body in a blaze in March 2022, coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard ruled in the non-inquest findings published on Thursday.

Tyson had acquired a second-hand electric scooter two weeks before his death and wanted to charge it on the night of the fire.

As the device did not come with a charger, he borrowed his friend's stolen charger for a different model of e-scooter.

Tyson placed the e-scooter on charge and went to bed with his pregnant girlfriend, Jade, in a camper trailer parked at his grandmother's southeast Queensland metropolitan home.

Twenty minutes later, two loud, firecracker-like bangs erupted.

The pair watched smoke billow from the e-scooter before Tyson ran towards the door near the flames.

He told Jade to get out, so she jumped from the nearest window.

A nearby resident described the explosion as being so big her house shook and it caused a huge ball of flames to erupt.

Emergency services rushed to the scene to help Tyson, Jade and his grandmother who had been inside the adjoining property at the time.

Tyson suffered burns to 90 per cent of his body and his family was told he would not survive them.

He died in an intensive care unit a day later.

Jade sustained burns to 50 per cent of her body and underwent surgery to deliver her baby.

A fire investigation probed the possible sources of the blaze but concluded the e-scooter and a mobile phone were the only electrical appliances in use at the time of the fire.

It could not categorically rule out the fire was lit by a human but deemed a strong likelihood that different voltages between the e-scooter and charger were behind the blaze.

The coroner ultimately ruled the fire was a result of an uncontrolled thermal runaway event, which is when heat in lithium-ion batteries increases faster than it can be dispersed to its surroundings.

The high temperature causes the battery to decompose, creating more heat and ultimately leading to an explosion of flammable gas.

Ms Kirkegaard found the e-scooter's internal batteries might have been overcharged by excessive voltage from the incompatible charger which could have sparked the blaze.

"The circumstances in which Tyson died serve as a tragic reminder of the importance of only using chargers that are supplied with the equipment or device, or certified third-party charging equipment that is compatible with the battery specifications," her findings said.

"Using chargers with incorrect power delivery (voltage and current) can cause damage to the battery that can lead to rapidly developing, intense and self-sustaining fires."

She also found large batteries such as those in e-scooters should be charged away from living spaces and in areas equipped with smoke alarms.

Australian Associated Press