A family has had a lucky escape after a hoverboard caught fire and nearly burnt their home in Melbourne's north-west to the ground.

The hoverboard was plugged into a wall and charging in a bedroom of the Strathmore house when it ignited.

The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) said the rear of the home was severely damaged, while the rest of the building and its contents also suffered water and smoke damage.

Ash Ibraheim says he made sure the hoverboards met Australian safety standards. ( ABC News )

The parents had given three of their four daughters, aged between eight and 14, one each for Christmas.

Ash Ibraheim said he had researched the presents for his children because of reports some models did not comply with Australian battery standards.

"They were Christmas presents, all Australian compliant," he said.

"We made sure, we got them in from Sydney. They had to comply with all our battery standards.

"We heard there were a lot of imported versions that weren't complying, so we wanted to make sure we got the right thing."

Rod East from the MFB's fire investigation unit warned they were dangerous.

"I would be definitely taking them away from the kids. I wouldn't allow them to charge any device let alone these things in children's rooms," he said.

"I would be seriously talking to the kids about charging.

"Me, personally, I probably wouldn't let the kids have them unless they were supervised."

'Dad, I don't want one now'

Loading

Mr Ibraheim said one of the girls had plugged it into the wall just 10 minutes before the blaze broke out.

He said two of his daughters were outside playing with neighbours, while two were inside.

"The beeping of the fire alarm sounded like the beeping of the fridge when it's left open, so no-one paid attention for a bit," he said.

"We're just grateful it didn't happen while the girls were sleeping in the bedroom. It all happened in a matter of eight to 10 minutes.

"By the time the fire brigade came the whole house was on fire.

"The youngest one, the eight-year-old, who didn't get one for Christmas, said 'dad, I don't want one now'.

"No more hoverboards."

Mr East said lithium ion batteries, which are used in the hoverboard, can cause problems.

"Lithium ion batteries are not designed to be on charge 24 hours a day," he said.

"The other problem that we located in this house which is very prevalent is the fact that there's power boards all through the house and that alters the current flow to any charging devices.

"So the device works a little bit harder and again we have a chance of a fault."

Russell Crowe incident 'highlights dangers'

Safety concerns over some hoverboard designs led the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to issue a pre-Christmas warning about the danger of fires and the potential for injury through falls.

Deputy Chair of the ACCC Delia Rickard said if people insisted on using the hoverboards they should not leave them unattended.

"We're saying to people don't leave them charging unobserved, if you're determined to use it, make sure you're watching it," Ms Rickard said.

"Most of the reports that we've heard have been of hoverboards that were charging unattended and spontaneously burst into flames."

Hollywood actor Russell Crowe was recently prevented from taking a hoverboard on a Virgin flight, with a number of major airlines concerned about the safety of the gadgets.

A second hoverboard at the house. ( ABC: Peter Lusted )

Acting Commander Phil Smith from the Melbourne Fire Brigade said the incident served as a warning about the dangers of leaving charging items unattended.

"It scares me to think that if it was night time, the kids were in bed, and this thing was actually plugged in the fire could very well have resulted in the loss of lives," he said.

"It's a timely reminder. Russell Crowe got kicked off a plane because of the likelihood of these devices exploding."