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7 February 2025
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Major fire at lithium-ion battery warehouse in Melbourne, Australia
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Fire Rescue Victoria firefighters battled an intense fire at a business in Cheltenham, in Melbourne's south-east in Australia, on 30 January 2025. Crews arrived at the Chesterville Road scene within five minutes, finding a 60-metre by 60-metre factory well alight. Firefighters immediately escalating the response. Fire Rescue Victoria said the warehouse containing 3 000 lithium-ion batteries, caught fire at the property, which is owned by Phoenix Technology Group. Barry Gray, Fire Rescue Victoria assistant chief fire officer and incident controller, said the fire then spread to a second warehouse holding satellite dishes and antennas, mostly contained in cardboard boxes.
Fire Rescue Victoria said around 25 fire trucks, including two ladder platforms and a "teleboom" and 70 firefighters responded to the incident at its peak.
FRV Incident Controller Assistant Chief Fire Officer Gray said a fantastic effort was made by firefighters to contain the fire to the buildings of origin. It took FRV and CFA crews about two and a half hours to contain the fire and as of 11h30am it was not yet deemed Under Control.
There were some initial limitations with access to the buildings where the fire was located, due to an inaccessible laneway and concerns of a partial structural collapse.
FRV’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (drones) team was on scene, assisted by Victoria Police. Emergency services worked together to collect aerial footage to enable a full assessment of the incident.
As of 14h30, the fire was brought under control but part of Chesterville Road was expected to remain closed for the rest of the day. Assistant CFO Gray said firefighters had not yet been able to access the warehouse containing the batteries and were likely to remain on scene overnight into Friday. He said there was a risk the batteries could go into "thermal runaway", where they would continue to generate heat and burn. "We will not declare it under control until we have a really good understanding of the state of those batteries and get access to them," he said.
Firefighting appliances remained on scene overnight.
It has been determined that the fire involved lithium-iron phosphate batteries, a type of lithium-ion battery.
The company said all employees were safe and the cause of the fire was not yet clear but was not believed to be deliberate.
Melbourne warehouse fire fuelled by lithium-ion batteries sends smoke over Cheltenham and Moorabbin
The blaze swiftly took hold of two adjoining warehouses belonging to the Phoenix Technology Group, which were both destroyed by the fire.
Sources: Fire Rescue Victoria, ABC News
Fire Rescue Victoria said around 25 fire trucks, including two ladder platforms and a "teleboom" and 70 firefighters responded to the incident at its peak.
FRV Incident Controller Assistant Chief Fire Officer Gray said a fantastic effort was made by firefighters to contain the fire to the buildings of origin. It took FRV and CFA crews about two and a half hours to contain the fire and as of 11h30am it was not yet deemed Under Control.
There were some initial limitations with access to the buildings where the fire was located, due to an inaccessible laneway and concerns of a partial structural collapse.
FRV’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (drones) team was on scene, assisted by Victoria Police. Emergency services worked together to collect aerial footage to enable a full assessment of the incident.
As of 14h30, the fire was brought under control but part of Chesterville Road was expected to remain closed for the rest of the day. Assistant CFO Gray said firefighters had not yet been able to access the warehouse containing the batteries and were likely to remain on scene overnight into Friday. He said there was a risk the batteries could go into "thermal runaway", where they would continue to generate heat and burn. "We will not declare it under control until we have a really good understanding of the state of those batteries and get access to them," he said.
Firefighting appliances remained on scene overnight.
It has been determined that the fire involved lithium-iron phosphate batteries, a type of lithium-ion battery.
The company said all employees were safe and the cause of the fire was not yet clear but was not believed to be deliberate.
Melbourne warehouse fire fuelled by lithium-ion batteries sends smoke over Cheltenham and Moorabbin
The blaze swiftly took hold of two adjoining warehouses belonging to the Phoenix Technology Group, which were both destroyed by the fire.
Sources: Fire Rescue Victoria, ABC News