A battery pack is believed to have caused a fire at Benalla P-12 College’s Faithfull St campus on Friday, November 6.

The CFA was called to the campus around 2.45pm.

Benalla Fire Brigade First Lieutenant Ben Reaburn said the quick action of two staff members had the fire under control before CFA arrived.

“The initial call came through saying it was a car fire,” Mr Reaburn said.

“On arrival, we found that there was actually a golf bag in the back of a ute that had caught alight.

“Two of the staff members at P-12 had managed to extinguish the fire with a couple of fire extinguishers, which was great work by them.”

Benalla P-12 College executive assistant Ashton Tanner confirmed it was Phil Brown and Tim Seal who extinguished the fire.

“What could have been a very serious incident was brought under control quickly thanks to the prompt actions of our Benalla P-12 staff,” she said.

“We are incredibly grateful for their quick thinking and response.”

The confusion over the source of the fire came from the fact the golf bag was in the back of a ute parked in the school car park.

“On further investigation, we found what appeared to be a power bank battery charger inside the golf bag that, we believe, was the cause of the fire,” Mr Reaburn said.

“It had been sitting in the tray of the ute, and we believe that it may have had a fault, or (overheated) due to the direct heat from the sun.

“There was no damage at all to the vehicle from what we could see.

“The quick action of the staff members with two fire extinguishers kept the damage to the golf bag.”

Mr Reaburn asked the community to exercise caution when using and storing lithium batteries.

“You’ve always got to use the correct battery and charger, something that’s made to Australian standards,” he said.

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