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My partner and I both have e-bikes. We keep seeing stories about lithium-ion battery fires. Does anyone know why they’re happening? How worried should we be about ours catching on fire? – Sarah, Toronto
Most e-bikes and e-scooters aren’t fires waiting to happen – but you should be more careful with the battery than you might think, fire experts say.
“Should you panic? The answer is no,” said Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs. “We’re not sounding any particular alarms … [but] we’re educating people about the proper use of lithium-ion batteries.”
In Toronto, the number of fires involving lithium batteries has been growing – to 91 last year from 9 in 2021. As of August 14, Toronto has seen 84 lithium battery fires so far in 2026 – with 15 injuries and one death, Toronto Fire said in an email.
That includes four separate fires in 24 hours last week. Of those 84 fires, 33 involved mobility devices, including e-bikes and e-scooters. Although lithium-ion batteries also power phones, laptops and tools, McMullen said e-bikes, e-scooters and other mobility devices generally account for more of the battery fires that fire departments are seeing.
We couldn’t find national numbers for how many lithium battery fires there have been across Canada this year. We reached out to several cities to learn there have been 22 reported in Calgary, 20 in Vancouver, 17 in Edmonton and three in Halifax.
Over the past five years, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton have all recorded an overall increase in lithium-ion battery fires.
A few other cities, including Montreal, didn’t immediately answer.
Growing problem?
Why are we seeing more of these fires? Partly, it’s because we’re seeing more battery-powered devices, McMullen said.
“There’s just a significant influx of these batteries,” he said, adding that fire investigators are also getting better at identifying when batteries cause fires. “And unfortunately, what’s happening is we’re seeing more batteries being misused.”
E-bikes and e-scooters tend to have bigger, more powerful batteries than laptops and phone – which can lead to bigger fires.
“Once a lithium-ion battery ignites, a process called thermal runaway occurs, and the fire burns intensely and rapidly,” Alex Kwan, a Calgary Fire Department spokesman, said in an email. “Large quantities of water are required to cool it down, more than other types of combustibles.”
Why do they catch on fire?
Battery fires can be caused by damaged or defective batteries, incompatible chargers, overcharging or improper storage, McMullen said.
Often, people ignore the advice in the product manual – or don’t read it at all, McMullen said.
If you have one of these devices, you should only use the charger that came with the device, charge it only while you’re home and awake and keep the charging battery away from anything flammable – including bedding and upholstered furniture.
When the battery is fully charged, unplug it – keeping it in the charger could make it overheat, he said.
Vancouver Fire said to keep batteries at room temperature – out of direct sunlight.
And if you need a new battery – be careful where you get it, McMullen said. Replacement batteries you order online – for example, on Amazon – may say they’re compatible with your device when they’re not.
Look for a CSA (Canadian Standards Association), UL (Underwriters Laboratories) or ULC (Underwriters Laboratories of Canada) mark on the device, the battery and the charger, he said.
While there are currently no mandatory federal safety standards for lithium-ion batteries, Health Canada is considering a standard but, as proposed, it wouldn’t include e-bikes and e-scooters. We asked Health Canada why these devices are excluded and whether other rules may cover them and didn’t receive an immediate answer.
So, if e-bike and e-scooter batteries can catch fire, should you be worried about your electric car?
While we couldn’t find Canadian numbers for EV fires, the Automobile Protection Association (APA) says they have been relatively rare. EV battery packs are “manufactured to high standards and have more failsafes than personal transportation devices,” the APA says.
“The average electric vehicle that we’re seeing on the road today does not pose any more of a risk than our combustion-engine cars beside it,” McMullen said.
A Swedish government study found 40 reported fire-related incidents, including smoke and overheating, among nearly 900,000 electric and plug-in hybrid cars in 2024 – a rate of roughly one for every 22,000 vehicles. That’s considerably lower than the rate for gas- and diesel-powered vehicles.
While there have been recalls for some EVs over potential fire risks, just like there have been for gas vehicles, McMullen said EV fires tend to happen in collisions that seriously damage the battery pack.
Know the signs?
Even if you’ve charged a battery on an e-bike or e-scooter properly, watch for signs that it may be damaged, including if it’s hotter than normal. If it’s swelling or changing shape, then “unplug immediately and allow the [battery] to cool down before safely disposing of it,” Kwan said.
“If you see smoke, hear hissing or popping sounds, smell chemical odours or see flames, get outside immediately and call 9-1-1,” he said. “These fires grow very quickly.”
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