It happened in Forrestfield at about 3.30am today, while a couple, their 12-month-old baby and two dogs all slept inside.
A 38-year-old man was taken to hospital, struggling to breathe.
The house was beyond saving and it’s believed a lithium-ion battery on a power tool is to blame.
“The house is 100 per cent damaged, so its inhabitable,” investigator Darryl Krammer said.
This is the 107th house fire caused by lithium-ion batteries so far this year.
It’s a growing concern, with four of them happening across the state in the past 48 hours.
“These are only the ones we know about, that we are being called to,” Krammer said, suggesting there could be more.
“It is a forever increasing risk to the community.”
Lithium-ion powers devices like portable chargers, electric vehicles, mobile phones, digital cameras, even vacuum cleaners.
The advice is to charge the items like power tools outside your home and install a smoke alarm in your garage.
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