A fire which damaged a Warrnambool home on Monday is suspected of being started by an electrical fault

Warrnambool resident Richie Umbers said the fire in the top floor of his apartment home at Barbro Terrace appeared to have been started near a power board where his mobile telephone was charging overnight.

Commander Greg Kinross made a comment about the danger of lithium batteries at the scene of a fire in when the alarm was raised early Monday morning.

The top floor of an apartment was substantially damaged by a fire after a suspected electrical fault.

Mr Kinross said it was being found that many fires in homes were being started by lithium batteries, particularly batteries in mobile telephones while they were being charged.

A FRV spokeswoman said on Friday that Lithium-ion batteries had been in use since the late 1970s.

"Lithium-ion batteries have many benefits for consumers and are being used in a rapidly increasing number of products readily available to the Australian public," she said.

"Recent attention has been drawn to their use in electric vehicles, e-bikes, scooters and solar power storage, but these batteries are also found in many other consumer items including, mobile phones, computers, toys, power tools, medical equipment and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to name a few."

The spokeswoman said all batteries were hazardous and potentially dangerous if they were not correctly stored, maintained and/or used according to the manufacturer's guidelines.

"The risks associated with lithium-ion batteries can include overheating causing fire or an explosion, resulting in burns, toxic chemical exposure and pollution due to the battery rupturing.

"The main risk for lithium-ion batteries is components in the battery breaking down at elevated temperatures causing the battery to overheat and catch fire.

"Lithium-ion batteries are classified as dangerous goods under the Australian Dangerous Goods Code and there have been a number of reported incidents of lithium-ion battery fires across the country that have caused extensive damage to vehicles and homes," she said.

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