Haider Ali, 21, was trapped in his locked bedroom at a sharehouse on Rowley Rd in Guildford, western Sydney when the fire started just before 5am on Tuesday.

Firefighters rescued him from the blaze, but they were unable to revive him.

Five other residents in the house at the time managed to escape and were treated for smoke inhalation.

The civil and construction engineering student had emigrated from Pakistan to Australia 18 months ago, without any relatives in the country, and was the eldest of three siblings.

NSW Fire and Rescue Superintendent Adam Dewberry reported that there were no smoke alarms in the three-bedroom house shared by ten people.

An e-bike, believed to belong to Ali for his Uber Eats deliveries, was found outside the residence.

The lithium-ion battery that was charging in Mr. Ali’s bedroom probably caused the fire and was focus of the investigation.

“The battery has definitely been exposed to fire and has gone into thermal runaway (overcharging) because there has been some detonation out of it … you can see where that battery has failed,” Superintendent Dewberry said.

“We know that batteries - even if they haven’t caused the fire - do add to the intensity of the fire and the rapid fire spread significantly and the extreme toxic smoke.”

Firefighters were able to swiftly contain the fire to a single bedroom upon their arrival.

Neighbor Colleen Elcham reported hearing a firefighter call out for paramedics as they entered Mr. Ali’s bedroom, according to the Daily Telegraph.

“It’s a rental property and it’s unfortunate that there’s no working smoke alarms in here - we could have been talking about a very different situation if they were fitted,” he said.

Police have established a crime scene at the home and seized the e-bike to be forensically examined.

“We really need people to understand not to charge lithium-ion batteries while they’re sleeping, to make sure that they’re not on charge in the exit pathways,” Fire and Rescue NSW Assistant Commissioner Michael Morris said.

“We’re really encouraging people to ensure that they have working smoke alarms to provide the earliest possible opportunity of notification if something’s gone wrong.”

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