Action Equipment Limited owner Richard Ive standing in the spot where an electric battery in a domestic lawn mower ignited and burst into flames, gutting the 700sqm building. Photo / George Novak
Action Equipment Limited owner Richard Ive standing in the spot where an electric battery in a domestic lawn mower ignited and burst into flames, gutting the 700sqm building. Photo / George Novak
The owner of a Tauranga business gutted by fire wants to warn others about the risks of electric batteries after one ignited in his workshop.
View CCTV footage of the fire starting and taking over in our video below.
On Waitangi Day, the unoccupied Action Equipment Limited building in Glasgow St went up in flames. Despite firefighters' efforts to save it, the blaze resulted in an estimated $2 million of damage.
Firefighters battle to control the fire in the Action Equipment building on Glasgow St last month.
Owner Richard Ive said the preliminary fire investigator's report revealed the fire was caused by a malfunction in an electric battery in a well-known NZ brand domestic lawn mower, which was awaiting repair in his workshop.
The electric battery - an old technology lead acid gel-filled type battery - appears to have ignited itself, caught fire and burst into flames, despite not being connected to any charger, he said.
The start of the fire, which took hold in the far left rear section of the 700 sqm building, was captured on internal CCTV footage until the security cameras gave out.
Mr Ive said the lawn mower was bought in 2011, and the owner told him she tried to charge the battery up at home on February 28 but the charge was not fully holding.
The collateral damage to the business includes the loss of about $350,000 of stock, 35-40 customers' ride-on mowers and other customers items under repair, and a potential $1m bill to repair the building.
"This is certainly one out of left field for me, as I had never heard of this happening before. But my research now shows it could be more common than you think," he said.
"It does no bear thinking about if this had happened at the woman's home (lawn mower owner) ... We're certainly taking more care in storing and charging these type of batteries, including storing them and charging them in a metal container, and I urge other people to do the same."
Mr Ive is also encouraging people with modern electric batteries to invest in a fire proof bag.
He and the building owner are fully insured, but it's going to be a six to 18 months process before the building is fully repaired.
Mr Ive is now operating from a temporary building at 39 Waihi Rd, a few doors down from his Action All Terrain motorcycle store.
Fire Service risk safety officer Jon Rewi said his full fire investigation report was not yet completed but at this time the fire was being treated as "an accident" after it is believed an electric battery malfunctioned and caught fire in the workshop.
Mr Rewi said CCTV footage helped pinpoint where he believed the fire started, but it was not possible given the extent of the damage to be totally sure. However, the workshop area of the building sustained the most damage.
He was unaware of any similar fire incidents, he said.
In a written statement, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Energy spokesperson Gordon Irving said the Ministry had no record of any similar incident of this kind.
The lead regulator for electrical appliances was the Energy Safety section at WorkSafe NZ, he said. The Bay of Plenty Times also sought comment from WorkSafe New Zealand, which was unavailable when this newspaper went to print last night.
