Another caravan blaze has been attributed to a lithium ion battery inside the vehicle catching fire.
Three people were taken to Queensland’s Gold Coast University Hospital after the incident at Marine Parade in Southport earlier this week.
The fire had already been put out with a portable fire extinguisher before emergency services arrived.
Southport Fire and Rescue station officer David Richards told the Gold Coast Bulletin that the fire appeared to have originated in the lithium ion rechargeable battery cells.
“The family that was driving the vehicle, made some good decisions, they pulled over, they made the area safe and looked after their child,” he said.
Emergency services were on the scene very quickly. PIC: QFES
“They attempted to put it out with the support of the passers-by and with the support of the bowls club they attempted to extinguish it and then the fire service arrived.”
The fire service isolated the area as it is very cautious with the toxic gases that are given off from the batteries.
“It’s a new hazard to us,” Mr Richards told the Bulletin. “We’re taking some extra precautions in this case.”
Mr Richards told the Bulletin that the family was from South Australia and had just started their trip around Australia. They were taken to hospital for precautionary measures.
“RVs and caravans, they can run solar cells to a house battery system so it is bigger than an e-scooter or a mobile device, but carry the same risks given their size,” he told the Bulletin. “There’s always a risk of smoke inhalation but the added risk with these types of batteries is they do give off particularly toxic gases.”
Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Police Service were also in attendance.
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We’ve been running lithium batteries in our caravan for 3 years no issues. They are contained in a battery box . They were quite expensive to buy. If your going to buy them do your research and buy the best.
Exactly…..
I think the magic word here is “ion”. !!!!!!
Let’s all settle down for a moment about Lithium batteries.
Lithium phosphate type batteries which will typically be used in caravans have a significantly less risk of spontaneous or other ignition than Lithium ion batteries, and usually have an inbuilt battery management system to prevent such occurrence.
Do your homework and be prepared to pay for a reputable safe battery system.
Like many others I’ve been running lithium a single batterie for four years now. Checked regularly using lithium charger when not in use it remains in maintenance mode. I did the upgrade from AGM using quality hardware very rarely use the inverter. However it provides 12 volts for our two CPAP’s.
FYou should probably distinguish between lithium ion and LifePO4 lithium batteries in articles like this. LiFePO4 batteries are safer than Li-ion due to the strong covalent bonds between the iron, phosphorus, and oxygen atoms in the cathode. The bonds make them more stable and less prone to thermal runaway and overheating. Off-grid and caravan battery systems are generally LiFePO4. They are regarded as very safe for these purposes.
Correct. In fact I didn’t even know that Lithium Ion batteries were available for RV purposes. The only ones I’ve ever heard of apart from phones and the like are the ones for electric bikes and scooters, or else the ones they put in the older electric cars. Makes me wonder whether some people are re-purposing used electric car batteries for their caravan? I’ve never heard of a LiFePo4 battery starting a fire due to thermal runaway.
Batteries installed without circuit breakers , fuses on all supply from Solar to battery controller, to every source / supply , earth / earth return , even to to point of having a BMS with temperature sensing or utilising temperature sensor with thermal cut out and alarm for your battery will mean that you can rest easy if it should fail.
Were the batteries lithium ion or lithium iron phosphate? there is a distinction and the house batteries in a caravan are lifepo4 and not lithium ion, they are safer
As already commented on one has to doubt whether the batteries were in fact Lithium ION.
Most Rvs will be fitted with Lithium IRON (phosphate ) batteries unless one has the extra $s to pay for the lighter but less stable Lithium Ion – the later are usually used in e-bikes and cars because of the lower weight ( higher power/weight ratio)
When I see an RV fire attributed to a battery of any kid I immediately think of poor ( usually undersized) cabling. no or low amps fusing, loose connections,( the heat/cool/heat regime will slowly loosen screwws and nuts until …) a short circuit. Any of these can be the cause of the ignition.
and if on house power of whatever volts, the battery is usually the first to be blamed especially if it any lithium type
But how many caravan fires have there been with onboard gas? We 5kW LFP batteries and we ripped out anything which used gas. Now we have a van with 240VAC everything, Induction hotplates, airfryer, reverse cycle aircon, hot water system. Even our car is now electric.
Is this a case of mistaken identity? Was it a Lithium Ion, or Lithium Iron Phosphate battery? The latter are generally used in RVs and are safer, the former are generally smaller used in other applications eg eBikes.
Clarify whether it was a Lithium Ion battery or a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery. There is a lor of hysteria particularly on social media about Lithium Ion batteries and there is a world of difference and safety in their chemistry. If you remember the Samsung phone batteries and airlines, these and e-scooters are co..only associated with Lithium Ion batteries. Lithium Iron Phosphate are commonly used in caravans and RV and campers and are much safer and have built in battery management systems to manage overcharging and overheating.