It’s 7:30 a.m. on a wet January morning, and smoke is pouring out of a home in East Vancouver. Neighbours are horrified to be taught that the fireplace has killed three members of the identical household, together with a little bit boy.
One day later, a hearth begins in an condo constructing within the West End at round 6 a.m. Neighbours take movies of flames roaring out of a third-floor window; they quickly be taught that one man has died and one other was injured.
Six months later, there’s an explosion in a single-room occupancy lodge within the Downtown Eastside at 7 a.m. A person struggling to escape the fireplace falls to his loss of life from a window.
All these fires had been brought on by lithium ion batteries, the kind of energy supply utilized in e-bikes, motorized scooters, laptops, cellphones and lots of different merchandise.
Vancouver Fire Rescue Services is elevating the alarm a couple of spike in fires and fatalities brought on by batteries. In all of 2021, there have been a complete of 5 deaths from fireplace within the metropolis. But within the first six months of 2022, seven individuals have died due to fires, and 5 of these deaths occurred due to fires brought on by lithium ion batteries.
Since 2016, there was a 500-per-cent improve in fires brought on by lithium ion batteries in Vancouver. Battery fires have additionally been on the rise throughout B.C. over the past 24 months, amid a 119-per-cent improve in fireplace deaths over the previous two years.
“We’re in big trouble,” Matthew Trudeau, a public data officer with the Vancouver fireplace division, instructed reporters on June 13. “We need to educate, we need to protect and we need to save lives.”
Trudeau emphasised that Vancouver Fire Rescue Services isn’t opposed to e-bikes or motorized scooters. But because the units turn into extra fashionable, fireplace departments throughout North America are seeing extra blazes brought on by batteries.
Lithium ion batteries can turn into very harmful when:
- Batteries are overcharged;
- Different chargers than those producers present are used;
- People make their very own batteries or mix parts;
- Batteries are tampered with or broken;
- Lower-quality batteries are bought, typically from on-line sellers.
In Vancouver, the 2 fires in January occurred whereas e-bikes had been being charged, mentioned fireplace Chief Karen Fry. Water and even water-based fireplace extinguishers don’t work to put out fires brought on by batteries, leaving the one possibility to get out instantly and name 911.
While fireplace departments and consultants in Canada have began to talk about the issue and recommend an replace to the nationwide fireplace code, different jurisdictions have already taken motion.
The New York City Fire Department responded to 70 fires brought on by batteries within the first 5 months of 2022, in contrast to 18 battery-caused fires in all of 2021.
In response, in April, New York up to date its fireplace code to embrace language on e-bikes and e-scooters, mentioned Brian Godlonton, the fireplace commissioner for British Columbia.
“Their new code now requires e-bike and e-scooter equipment to comply with the standards of the Underwriters Laboratories, as well as enhanced fire protection measures where there are six or more e-bikes and e-scooters being charged or stored,” Godlonton mentioned.
“You can see New York has taken a really positive change just recently and I think we’ll start to see more of that happening at the local government level.”
Underwriters Laboratories is a client security testing and certification firm. Mike Pasquali, director of the Canadian Electric Bicycle Association, mentioned shoppers ought to search for batteries which are manufactured by a acknowledged model, equivalent to LG, and are UL-certified.
Pasquali’s group affords a course on how to restore lithium ion batteries safely, coaching he says is badly wanted as electrical bikes turn into extra fashionable. E-bikes and scooters have been promoted as a inexperienced transportation resolution — a approach to make driving a motorcycle extra accessible and an alternate to utilizing a automobile.
They’ve additionally turn into an financial lifeline to supply staff who depend on e-bikes to make a dwelling. However, many will not be in a position to afford to change a $150 charger or a $1,000 battery, or cost their bike anyplace apart from their houses. People may also be tempted to use a good friend’s charger, which could appear like it is going to work nice, however may very well be offering extra energy than their battery is provided for.
Pasquali mentioned it’s not troublesome to discover movies on-line displaying how to restore or make your personal battery packs, however solely individuals with the right coaching must be repairing batteries. It’s additionally widespread to discover battery parts on the market in venues equivalent to Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji, or home made batteries that promote for a lot lower than the $600 to $1,000 price ticket for a brand-name battery.
“Someone’s buying individual pieces of batteries, making them, then making a profit on them,” he mentioned. “They could be using very low-quality cells, just to be profitable.”
If parts just like the battery administration system contained in the battery are low-quality, that may additionally trigger a hearth, Pasquali mentioned.
When battery fires occur, Pasquali mentioned he’d like to see extra data launched about what truly triggered the fireplace, and particulars equivalent to whether or not the mistaken charger was getting used.
Godlonton mentioned individuals want to bear in mind that it’s not simply e-bikes and e-scooters which are at-risk: lithium ion batteries are additionally inside units equivalent to laptops and cellphones.
In truth, Health Canada says telephones now high the checklist of fires brought on by digital units.
Common security recommendation is to cost telephones and laptops on a tough floor, not on a mattress or a sofa. But Godlonton mentioned he recommends not charging your cellphone within the room the place you sleep in any respect.
Godlonton additionally desires to remind individuals to ensure that smoke detectors are working correctly. Less than half of the houses that had fires in 2021 had working smoke alarms.
Battery fires have gotten extra widespread in Vancouver’s single-room occupancy accommodations, growing older buildings with small rooms which are already at excessive danger for fires. Trudeau mentioned he’d like to see residents and constructing operators retailer e-bikes and scooters inside a separate room that’s sprinklered, though he acknowledged that may very well be a problem within the buildings due to safety and lack of house.
But because the deadly fires throughout town have proven, residents in each neighbourhood want to concentrate on the dangers.
“I would like to see us even make moves on not having electric bikes within your units, within places where you sleep,” Fry mentioned. “We do need to do something, and we’re going to be asking the province to help us with this as well.”