Perth man fighting for life after robot vacuum cleaner explosion

Lachie Perrem suffered life-threatening injuries after the explosion on Thursday destroyed his share house in Brabham

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A Perth man has spent five days fighting for his life after a robot vacuum cleaner explosion set fire to his home.

Lachie Perrem, aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital on Thursday with life-threatening burns from a blaze that left his fiancee and housemates without their home.

The fire was an accident caused by a fault in a robotic vacuum cleaner, investigators from the state department of fire and emergency services have found.

Perrem remained in a critical condition on Tuesday evening and was being treated for his burns at Fiona Stanley hospital, a South Metropolitan health service spokesperson said.

Perrem’s mother, Fiona, said on a GoFundMe page that he had suffered burns across about 75% of his body and was sedated in hospital.

“He is facing an incredibly long road ahead, with multiple surgeries, extensive medical treatment, rehabilitation, and months of recovery,” she said.

The fire broke out in the kitchen of Perrem’s home in Brabham, in Perth’s north-east, on Thursday 2 July. The department said a triple-zero call was made at 5pm that day and four fire trucks attended, with the blaze fully extinguished more than two hours later.

It was the first reported case of a robotic vacuum cleaner fire, though there have been four fires involving standard vacuum cleaners in the past two years, the department said.

It was not clear whether the fire was a result of a fault in the vacuum’s electrics or its lithium-ion battery. The device has been sent to the state’s building and energy office for further investigation.

One other woman needed hospital treatment.

In a post on social media, Perrem’s fiancee, Bri Thompson, said he was “fighting the biggest battle of his life,” while she and her housemates had lost their home.

“Our entire life has changed in a matter of moments,” Thompson said.

“Lachie is genuinely the most giving person there is. Anyone who knows him knows he would give absolutely anything to help someone else. He is always the first to put his hand up, the first to help and would never expect anything in return.”

Perrem’s social media project, “The Tradie Vault”, will be paused while he recovers. Perrem, a trained telecommunications technician according to his social media, had used the page to promote mental health awareness with work site visits and tool giveaways.

Perrem’s mother launched a GoFundMe on Saturday to cover the costs of his “long recovery and rehabilitation” and essential living expenses, including his car repayments and housing costs for his displaced fiancee and housemates.

The fundraiser had surpassed $26,000 by Tuesday evening.