Halifax Fire urges public to use lithium-ion batteries safely; prevent e-bike, e-scooter fires

The proliferation of electric vehicles (EVs), e-bikes, and e-scooters has prompted Halifax Fire to train its firefighters in dealing with potential fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.

The department has also added new tools and protocols to follow in case of such fires.

Lithium-ion batteries are not only found in EVs and other electronic modes of transportation, but are also the main power source for cell phones, laptops, tablets, and countless other digital devices.

Halifax Fire district chief Rob Hebb says such fires are “relatively rare” compared the sheer number of batteries out there, but if they malfunction and catch fire the results are often catastrophic.

“You have two dissimilar chemicals inside the battery that (are kept) separated by a thin membrane,” he explains. “(Then) either due to shock or thermal insult (overheating), that barrier breaks down and the two chemicals mix and cause a chemical reaction.”

That reaction then can quickly turn into a fiery explosion which Hebb says is extremely hot, and fast burning, making the flames difficult to douse.

“In a smaller fire yes, we can overwhelm the fire with water, (but) in a larger fire event with a lithium battery like a car or bus,” he says, “our policy has become if a fire is isolated, if nothing is affected by it, it's just to let it burn out.”

“For example, a small passenger (EV) can take up to 50,000 gallons of water to extinguish, which functionally for us does not work that well,” he adds.

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency District Chief Rob Hebb holds two examples of lithium-ion batteries. (Heidi Petracek/CTV Atlantic)Hebb says the problem can start with an overcharged or improperly stored battery, and says modified or after-market batteries other than what's recommended by the manufacturer also pose a risk.

“The biggest concern (with some electronic devices) is whether or not they meet UL standards for North America and specifically Canada,” he adds, “So that’s something consumers should really pay attention to.”

The issue is top of mind for fire departments and first responders throughout North America, with fires caused by the batteries often making headlines.

“They can propagate fire growth pretty immediately, posing a whole bunch of risks,” says Neil McMillan, director of science & research in the health, safety & medicine division of the International Association of Fire Fighters. (IAFF)

New York City issued a warning earlier this year after e-bike and e-scooter batteries caused 202 fires, 142 injuries and 6 deaths. 

Last year in Vancouver, e-bike battery fires led to the deaths of five people. 

“If there's one thing firefighters do it’s solve problems, and this is an emerging problem that's getting the full attention of the fire service,” says McMillan.

But he says there are challenges.

“In the U.S., the National Transportation Safety Board provided a report saying that firefighters lack the necessary training and guidance presently to effectively respond to lithium battery and electric vehicle fires specifically,” he explains, “because again the propagation of the fire spread, the failures of windows through the explosion of the off-gassing, leads to the fire service to being ill-prepared from a response time standpoint.”

“We are struggling to both understand the risks,” adds McMillan. “As well as mitigate those risks.”

In Halifax, Hebb says the department is starting to track these types of fires, to try to determine what they’re dealing with, and says firefighters recently received special training from their New York City counterparts.

Depending on the size of the battery involved, Hebb says there are several ways to handle a lithium-ion fire.

For small batteries, fire stations can use metal canisters to contain them.

“What we do is we place one of the batteries that's been involved in the fire with some of this Class D fire extinguishing material,” he explains. “Some of the material, which looks like light gravel, is poured into the canister, and the battery is placed on top. More retardant is poured over that, and the canister lid is then closed to essentially smother the item.

A canister used to contain a lithium-ion battery involved in a fire. (Heidi Petracek/CTV Atlantic)For EV fires, Halifax Fire now has two large fire suppression blankets which can be thrown over the vehicle to help extinguish a battery blaze. Each blanket, Hebb says, can be re-used up to 30 times.

“These are relatively rare events, but if they do happen, you have mere seconds to escape,” says Hebb. That’s why he says residents shouldn’t charge e-bikes or scooters inside their home or near any exits, in case a battery does explode.

“The challenge for us, if there's a fire in a building and that fire impinges on an electric scooter or an electric bike, and that happens to be behind us in our escape route,” he says, “that's where the danger to firefighters really exists inside of a building.”

A vehicle covered in a specialized fire blanket meant to help extinguish an electric vehicle fire. (Heidi Petracek/CTV Atlantic)Hebb says that makes prevention extremely important, and he encourages anyone using lithium-ion batteries to follow the manufacturer’s safety instructions.

Health Canada also provides safety guidelines for their use and safe disposal online.

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