A surge in deadly battery fires in Australia has prompted urgent calls for a national safety strategy.

With Australian homes reportedly expected to accumulate an average of 33 lithium batteries this year, fire safety experts are growing anxious at a spike in battery-related fires caused by cheap gadgets.

Chief among the concerns is the lack of national strategy to approach the growth in the number and size of rechargeable lithium batteries, with calls for safety and testing requirements remaining unheard.

“We want to avoid a significant tragedy that forces government to come together. We want to make sure the governments have the right import controls and standards already in place.”

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has warned that the insurance costs around lithium battery fires is almost three times that of normal house fires. Claims for battery-related incidents at IAG have shot up to more than AU$15m in a year and are running on average at AU$247,000 - a typical home fire would cost AU$87,000 on average.

Many electronic bikes and scooters imported into Australia lack basic safety features aimed at stopping runaway fire reactions, which lay waste to homes and businesses.

The lithium battery risk is that the very same things that make the cells effective make them dangerous: they are capable of producing a cloud of flammable toxic gas before exploding. And the casings used to house the battery make them tricky to extinguish.

Fire Rescue Victoria assistant chief fire officer Jamie Hansen said their crews were being called out on a daily basis for lithium battery fires, adding that a key cause was the incorrect use of chargers on cells or "non-compliant" batteries sold to Australian customers outside controlled and approved channels.

Insurance Council of Australia boss Andrew Hall said the fire safety sector is screaming out about battery fires.

“In Sydney we’re seeing one a week,” he said. “It has crept up on us as it has crept up on most places in the world.”

“We want to avoid a significant tragedy that forces government to come together. We want to make sure the governments have the right import controls and standards already in place.”

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