Fires attributable to lithium-ion batteries are on the rise throughout Canada, based on the group that represents the nation’s hearth chiefs, prompting warnings from hearth providers, harm attorneys and even Well being Canada.
Toronto noticed a 90 per cent improve within the variety of fires involving the rechargeable batteries in 2023 — a complete of 55 fires, up from 29 the earlier yr — and the batteries have been one of many main causes of fires in Vancouver that yr.
It is a phenomenon Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Affiliation of Hearth Chiefs, says hearth providers are reporting in cities huge and small throughout the nation, and most instances share a standard origin.
“What we’re seeing extra so is on the e-mobility gadgets and the most typical that come to thoughts are the e-bikes, e-scooters and digital stand-up one-wheel gadgets,” McMullen advised CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
‘Extraordinarily aggressive’
Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable batteries utilized in electrical vehicles, e-bikes, laptops and cellphones, in addition to different electronics. They’re extra simply broken than different kinds of batteries and might explode or burst into flames when broken or improperly used, because of a course of referred to as thermal runaway.
The ensuing fires, McMullen mentioned, “are extraordinarily aggressive and risky within the sense that it occurs in a short time.”
Furthermore, McMullen mentioned they’re usually tough to extinguish, and require specialised tools and coaching that smaller, volunteer-run hearth providers generally lack.
“The response of a thermal hearth is considerably completely different than that of what we have now usually educated for,” he mentioned. “Business and innovation is exceeding the tempo with which the hearth service can sustain.”
Batteries missing normal Underwriter Laboratories (UL) and Conformite Europeenne (CE) worldwide security certifications, in addition to these which have been overcharged, modified or in any other case misused, are particularly vulnerable to catching hearth, McMullen warned.
“We imagine a part of the difficulty could also be improper use (equivalent to) overcharging of those batteries, or we’re seeing these do-it-yourself sort changes to allow them to get extra pace or they will get extra energy, in addition to mixing and matching of elements,” he mentioned. “These are simply a few of the examples of issues we’re seeing as being the causes of a few of these fires.”
In actual fact, Well being Canada maintains a web page devoted to advising on the protected use of lithium-ion batteries, together with an inventory of the way the batteries could be dangerously compromised via overcharging, undercharging, storing them in a sizzling or chilly automotive or in direct daylight, permitting the terminals to get moist, modifying the batteries, or utilizing batteries which might be swollen or dented.
“Modifying lithium-ion batteries can destabilize them and improve the chance of overheating, hearth and explosion,” the web page reads.
‘Catastrophic penalties’
The moveable nature of gadgets that run on lithium-ion batteries means they will catch hearth in a wide range of enclosed locations equivalent to residences, elevators, trains, subway vehicles and buses, placing everybody round them in danger, private harm lawyer Nainesh Kotak warns.
“There could possibly be catastrophic penalties as a result of plenty of riders will take their e-bikes on public transit,” Kotak advised CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
“The danger to most people will increase when you may have many individuals grouped collectively. You could possibly have catastrophic penalties if there’s a hearth. So it is a matter that definitely wants consideration.”
Vancouverite Kellyann Sharples is suing a number of makers of e-bikes and e-scooters following an condominium hearth in 2022 through which her associate died, alleging the lithium-ion energy cell in an e-bike began the hearth, based on court docket papers filed in January.
And final December, Toronto subway riders needed to evacuate a station after a lithium-ion battery on an e-bike instantly caught hearth.
Most lately, Metrolinx, which operates intercity transit within the Larger Toronto and Hamilton Space, enacted a ban on all lithium-ion batteries missing UL or CE certification beginning April 9. In doing so, the transit service joins an inventory of jurisdictions inserting restrictions on lithium-ion battery-operated e-bikes, e-scooters and different mobility gadgets.
In 2021, Transport for London banned e-scooters from the U.Okay. capital’s community after a collection of fires involving lithium-ion batteries.
New York Metropolis has additionally cracked down on unsafe e-bikes, with a brand new legislation prohibiting the sale, lease or rental of e-bikes that fail to achieve acknowledged security requirements. Retailers will face fines of as much as US$1,000 for every uncertified gadget that’s discovered.
“There’s now an understanding, and there is sufficient analysis that seems to be on the market and sufficient statistics which might be exhibiting that, sadly, e-bikes or e-scooters with non-certified lithium-ion batteries are liable to hearth,” Kotak mentioned.
“That threat may be minute, it may be one-in-10,000, I do not know, however the truth is we do know there’s a threat and we have seen fires and we have seen deaths.”Â