Toronto Fire Services confirms there have been nearly 100 lithium-ion battery fires in the city this year, far surpassing the total of what was seen in all of 2025. In an email to CP24, Capt. Deepak Chagger said there have been a total of 97 lithium-ion battery fires in 2026. There have also been 14 injuries related to these fires too, Chagger confirmed. Just last Sunday, fire crews responded to two fires involving lithium-ion batteries: one in an alleyway near St. Clair Avenue West and Bathurst Street, and another inside of an apartment building near Crescent Town Road and Victoria Park Avenue. They occurred within hours of each other. Fire Chief Jim Jessop has previously stressed the fires caused by these rechargeable batteries are typically toxic and pose great public safety risk. “Since 2022 ... the city of Toronto has seen well north of a 200 per cent increase in the number of fires involving lithium-ion batteries,” Jessop told CTV News. These kinds of batteries are found in various products, but Jessop had said e-bikes and e-scooters are catching fire at an alarming rate. Jessop says lithium-ion batteries in these bikes and scooters are not regulated in the same way as they are with smartphones or computers. “The data we’ve gotten out of our investigations is it’s predominantly the batteries that are not regulated, do not meet a standard, that anybody can go on any internet site to bring into this country and use, quite often for purposes or with devices for which they were not originally designed,” Jessop said. With files from CTV News’ Heather Wright
