Lithium ion batteries 'number one' cause of fire-related deaths in Vancouver, officials say

Fires caused by lithium ion batteries have claimed the lives of five people in Vancouver so far this year, according to officials.

The most recent death occurred Saturday after an explosion and fire that are believed to have been caused by an e-bike battery at the Empress Hotel, an SRO on the Downtown Eastside.

“(The victim) just happened to be sitting in the wrong place at the wrong time and he fell out the window due to the explosion," Asst. Chief Walter Pereira told CTV News.

"Either he lost his footing or was sent out the window due to the subsequent explosion.”

Members of Vancouver Fire Rescue Services held a news conference Monday to draw attention to what they called an "alarming upward trend" in fires – both fatal and not – caused by these batteries.

Capt. Matthew Trudeau said the number of fires caused by these batteries has jumped 500 per cent since 2016. Lithium ion batteries are used to power electronic scooters and bikes but also laptops and cellphones.

"We have seen a couple fires where overcharging has been one of the problems in these batteries," he explained.

"Depending on the type of lithium ion, we're seeing a thermal runaway effect that can be caused chemically inside them, which makes it extremely dangerous and hard to extinguish, where simply putting water on them is not effective means of extinguishing."

While overcharging is one of the hazards, Trudeau said "modifying" the batteries is also something they have seen as a contributing factor in these fires. Damaged cords and chargers also make a fire more likely, he added.

The danger, according to Trudeau, is not necessarily the type of battery or the device it is used for.

"It's really around the safe handling and care," he noted.

Chief Karen Fry provided details about the other four people who have been killed this year. She confirmed that a fire in January that killed three members of one family -- a child under 10 years old, their mother, and grandfather – was caused by one of these batteries. An apartment fire the following day in the city's West End was also started by a lithium ion battery.

She said the number of people who have died so far in 2022 due to these battery-caused fires is the same as the total number of deaths in the city in all of 2021. That, according to Fry, is one of the reasons the warning is being issued now.

"With where we're sitting right now, we're in big trouble, right? We need to educate. We need to protect and we need to save lives," she said.

"This is something that we're seeing more and more use in our community and something that we really need to pay attention to."

Fry also estimated that crews are called to a blaze caused by one of these batteries "every couple of days."

There have been seven fire-related fatalities in the city this year, the two that were not caused by battery-related blazes occurred when the Winters Hotel burned down in April. Those two bodies were not found until demolition of the building began, 11 days after flamed engulfed the building.

Safety tips for the use and storage of lithium ion batteries can be found online.