Fire experts ‘kept awake’ over growing hazard of lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries represent a new technological hazard that one fire science expert has said keeps him awake at night, as fire service chiefs warn the ubiquity of the batteries in everyday products is outpacing public understanding and safety regulations.The blaze that devastated a historic building in Glasgow and resulted in the continuing closure of Central Station, Scotland’s largest rail interchange is believed to have started in a shop selling vapes, which are powered by lithium-ion batteries. The latest data reveals a sharp increase in battery-related fires across Scotland, while firefighters in London attend an e-bike or e-scooter fire every other day.Paul Christensen, a professor of pure and applied electrochemistry at the University of Newcastle, underlined that, while the probability of a fire from a lithium-ion battery is very low, the hazard is “very, very high, as we’ve seen with this fire in Glasgow”.Guillermo Rein, a professor of fire science at London" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="16913" data-entity-type="organization">Imperial College London, said: “It’s a new technology that comes with an unintended new hazard, that keeps me awake at night.“A lithium battery fire – in terms of the way it develops, the way we detect it and how we suppress it – is completely different from the sorts of fires we have protected our homes, businesses and public buildings against. It breaches most of the layers of protection that we know. And they [the batteries] are omnipresent.”An e-bike caught fire in a bedroom in London, causing life-changing injuries to a man who tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher. Photograph: London Fire BrigadeLithium-ion batteries are used in mobile phones, tablets, laptops, electric toothbrushes, tools, toys and vapes, and are also used to power e-bikes, e-scooters and electric vehicles.If used incorrectly or damaged, they bring a specific hazard, called thermal runaway: a dangerous chain reaction where the temperature inside the battery rises uncontrollably, producing a toxic gas that vents at high pressure creating a flame like a blow torch, and exploding.Existing data suggests a significant escalation in these fires in recent years. London-fire-brigade" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="21995" data-entity-type="organization">London Fire Brigade reports that firefighters attended 206 e-bike and e-scooter fires in 2025, compared with 12 in 2019. In total there were 521 related fires, compared with 80 in 2019. Of five fatalities in the past three years, none of the dead owned the e-bike involved. LFB says these fires have had a “devastating effect” on families and communities.There is no specific data collection for lithium battery-related fires in England and Wales, now under review. But, according to the latest FoI data from the Scottish fire and rescue service, there were 69 lithium battery-related fires in Scotland in 2025, compared with 20 in 2019, including 10 house fires last year, two in hospitals and three in prisons. Data going back to 2009 confirms there have been no related fatalities in Scotland.The incorrect disposal of these batteries – which should not be thrown in an ordinary bin but can be recycled in bins at many supermarkets – has resulted in serious fires in bin lorries and at recycling plants across the UK, the cost of which is now estimated annually at more than £1bn, as well as causing injuries to staff.A fire broke out at a block of flats in Penge, south London, after an e-bike was left to charge in a garden. Photograph: London Fire BrigadeLFB attended two fires in vape shops in 2025, and the UK Vaping Industry Association is calling for the licensing scheme proposed in the UK government’s tobacco and vapes bill to be “robust”.Dan Marchant, the director of the online retailer Vape Club and a founding member of the association, said: “This would require shops to show they understand the importance of age verification, making sure they’re legal products, that they have a recycling system in place, and understand electrical safety.”More broadly, the National Fire Chiefs Council has raised concerns that the increasing use of lithium-ion batteries is moving faster than the safety standards designed to regulate them. Its electrical safety lead, Richard Field, warned: “When these batteries fail, they can fail catastrophically.“Fire chiefs have been clear that stronger product safety rules, tighter oversight of online sales and effective enforcement are needed to ensure products entering the UK market meet robust safety requirements.”Public education was key, said Christensen. “Lithium batteries have penetrated all levels of society, and in my opinion have done so far faster than we’ve understood the risks and hazards. There also appears to be a reluctance at government level, both this one and the previous one, to accept that these hazards exist, much less to address them.”Rein saw that reluctance from the battery industry too, which “has never had an issue with safety before”.“I don’t like regulation for the sake of it, but that may be the only answer, because it is so shocking, the lack of leadership in the battery industry that is bringing these hazards into our homes,” he said.