Toronto’s fire chief sounds alarm following recent increase in lithium-ion battery fires

Toronto fire chief Jim Jessop is seen next to a lithium-ion battery phone on fire.

Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop says a recent increase in the frequency and severity of lithium-ion battery fires in the city is a “serious public safety concern.”

While not inherently dangerous, these power sources, commonly used in e-bikes and e-scooters, can explode, causing personal injury, even death, not to mention significant property damage.

Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop previously noted that once these devices enter “thermal runaway,” an accelerated increase in temperature, there are only 90 seconds before a room or a subway car can be engulfed in toxic smoke.

Toronto Fire said it recorded a nearly 600 per cent increase in lithium-ion battery fires from 2020 to 2024.

• READ MORE: GTA fire services seeing rise in lithium-ion battery fires

At this time, there is no regulation or certification required for LIBs, which can be easily ordered online.

3 recent LIB fires in Toronto

In a post on X on Wednesday, the city’s fire chief said crews fought a lithium-ion battery fire on Wednesday afternoon, the third such call in about a week. In this case, several e-bikes caught fire in a shed.

The blaze broke out in Toronto’s west end, near Roncesvalles Avenue and The Queensway, shortly after 2:30 p.m. but has been extinguished.

On Sunday night, Toronto Fire attended an industrial warehouse on Ashwarren Road, near Keele Street and Finch Avenue, in North York for another fire involving a lithium-ion battery.

In that case, heavy flames were discovered upon arrival, and the fire was upgraded to a two-alarm blaze. It was quickly knocked down, Toronto Fire told CP24 at the time, but crews continued to douse the building to control hot spots throughout the night. No injuries were reported.

That incident was the second such fire at that location in “recent days,” Jessop said on social media.

Another notable lithium-ion battery fire broke out on April 27 at a high-rise apartment building near Wellesley Street East and Sherbourne Street, causing significant damage to the balcony.

• READ MORE: Fire chief ‘grateful’ no one hurt after lithium-ion battery fire erupts in downtown Toronto

“The frequency and intensity of lithium-ion battery fires continue to increase across our city, along with the risk to the public and firefighters,” Jessop wrote on Sunday night.