Australia's consumer watchdog has launched an investigation into the safety of a portable battery pack which is believed to have started a car fire in Canberra last week.
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission confirmed it is looking into the circumstances behind last week's incident, where a mother recounted rescuing her two children after a Boxo battery pack caught fire on its own in the front seat of the car.
The car belonged to Canberra mother Catherine Mayes, who was captured on dramatic CCTV footage rescuing her two children, 20-month-old Tommy and five-month-old Hunter, from the car as the battery pack caught fire.
Ms Mayes told The Canberra Times she noticed the battery pack, which can be plugged into the car to jump start it, popping open before it filled the car with smoke.
She said the battery pack was often kept inside the car in case of emergencies.
"We've had it in and out of the car when we need it," Ms Mayes said. While the battery pack comes with a warning for it to not be left in the sun, it does not say it would become a fire hazard, according to Ms Mayes.
A spokeswoman for the consumer commission said while it had not received any complaints about the car fire, it was examining the circumstances behind it.
"The ACCC is aware of reports of the Canberra incident, involving a portable battery pack," the spokeswoman said. "We will conduct an assessment of this incident using established criteria to determine whether there is a systemic product safety hazard that needs to be addressed by the ACCC or a specialist product safety regulator."
Boxo was contacted for comment.
