Rise in battery fires across Leicestershire and Cambridgeshire, say firefighters

Firefighters across Peterborough, Stamford and Rutland are backing calls for more regulation of e-scooters and e-bikes batteries.

It follows a new report from the charity Electrical Safety First, recommending that the batteries they use should have third-party approval before being placed on the market.

Fire and rescue services in our region say they're seeing a rise in the number of fires caused by the lithium-ion batteries.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue said they were up on the last two years, while station manager at Leicestershire Fire and Rescue, Stephen Ball, said he was seeing a similar problem:

'We've recently seen an increase of lithium-ion battery type fires, both nationally and within Leicestershire.'

'There are some clear indicators that your battery is starting to degrade or become dangerous. Is it giving out abnormal heat? Is it extremely hot to the touch? That's a big sign.'

'Noise and crackling sounds could be a sign that they're starting to fail. If you notice a strong smell, or any smoke coming from any device, try and stop charging it. If you need to, call 999 and let the fire service know.'

The report, titled Battery Breakdown, makes further suggestions including:

• The banning of universal charging adaptors, to prevent incompatible chargers powering batteries and risking damage, or the better regulation for non-proprietary batteries.
• The introduction of a British standard for conversion kits for e-bikes, which currently does not exist.
• Mandatory reporting of e-bike and e-scooter fires in Home Office data in a major overhaul to modernise fire incident reporting across the UK.
• A Government backed nationwide campaign on e-bike and e-scooter safety, including safe charging.

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