Family loses home and business in northern New South Wales e-bike fire

A man is recovering in hospital and his family is counting the cost of an e-bike blaze in northern New South Wales.

Valley E-bike owner Mick Parkhill said his family lost everything when flames engulfed their home in South Murwillumbah about 3:00am.

"I was asleep and heard a noise. I thought it was someone breaking in and I just ran to the front of the house and … it looked like the lights were on underneath the house," he said.

Mr Parkhill said he tried to use a fire blanket to put out the flames as the family of four scrambled to safety.

"The smoke was pretty intense, and so I got out on my hands and knees and crawled in stupidly, looking back on it, but just thought I could just get that blanket over it," he said.

"I tried to get [the dogs out] a couple of times.

"I just couldn't, [and that's] the saddest part."

NSW Fire and Rescue said it took multiple crews about 3 hours to bring the blaze under control.

The risks of e-bikes

Mr Parkhill said he and his partner ran an e-bike business out of their home and a shed in Railway Street, near the start of the Tweed Valley Rail Trail.

"We've got 70-odd bikes, there's at least $500,000 in bikes, easy."

Mr Parkhill said he was aware of the dangers posed by lithium-ion batteries, and had built a separate storage area for them.

"The worst part is that … I didn't put the batteries in there," he said.

"I was just tired.

"I was exhausted after [a few] big days and just wheeled them in and thought I'll do them today."

Mr Parkhill said he hoped to rebuild the business and would not be making the same mistake again.

"Complacency and stupidity, I'm just putting it down to," he said.

"Because you know … you've done something over thousand times before and nothing's happened."

Mr Parkhill said his home was a renovated buyback house from the 2022 floods.

"It was getting lifted next month," he said.

'Very difficult to put out'

NSW Fire and Rescue Northern Rivers Inspector Tim Climo said it was an intense blaze.

"Due to the e-bikes that were under the house and lithium batteries, once they start going, they're very difficult to put out," he said.

"Fire and Rescue are doing a lot of research into lithium-ion batteries at present and they're trying to get legislation changed.

"We recommend people using reputable manufacturers and suppliers when they do purchase e-bikes and batteries."

Inspector Climo said there were precautions people could take when charging lithium-ion batteries.

"Ideally, you want to charge them under a carport or a shed away from the house or inside in your garage, but you want to have a smoke detector in your garage if it's inside," he said.

"If you go away from the house, take them off charge.

"Once they [are] fully charged, take them out of the charger."