00:00 The charred and melted remnants of a fiery incident.
00:05 I went at the front and then saw the smoke and also the sparks of fire.
00:12 Rose had smelled smoke for days, but it was her neighbours that discovered her solar PV system on fire.
00:18 They're saying that, "Oh, your house is burning." And I was so terrified.
00:24 It singed her garden, but brick walls protected her home.
00:27 The culprit, a DC isolator, separating the electrical grid from solar panels, failing in Darwin's humid conditions.
00:34 Maybe because of the wirings that could have moistened and broken in time.
00:43 And where there's smoke, there's fire.
00:45 Eleven fires have been caused by DC isolators in the NT so far this year, a spike compared to just four in 2022.
00:53 The ABC has sought data from across the country.
00:57 Victoria's Energy Watchdog says there have been 27 DC isolator fires last financial year, well up from 15 a year earlier.
01:05 All but the ACT had at least one incident.
01:08 New South Wales authorities did not respond to requests for data.
01:12 Energy Safe Victoria says the majority of DC isolator fires are in ageing systems and is urging households to get them regularly checked.
01:20 Here in Darwin, the Electrical Safety Watchdog is also alarmed.
01:24 They have been catching fire all over the country.
01:27 WorkSafe NT is urging households to check their systems.
01:31 If they're installed on wooden boarding, that can cause a fire.
01:36 For Rose, she wants enforced checks of solar systems.
01:40 Because of the danger of that thing.
01:45 So others aren't burnt.
01:46 burnt.
01:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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