NSW announces compulsory training for firefighters to deal with electric vehicle incidents

Announcement comes as motoring body says EV blazes are rare, and after four unrelated lithium battery fires recorded in a single day

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Firefighters in New South Wales will need to complete compulsory training on electric vehicles amid a boom in their sales and a spate of lithium battery fires across the state.

The state recorded four lithium battery fires in a single day on Friday, with emergency services responding to blazes in Bankstown, Silverwater, Lake Macquarie and Berkeley. The deaths of two people in a house fire in Lake Macquarie in February were believed to be the first fatalities caused by a lithium battery fire.

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