UK firefighters issue warning over huge new cause of fires - one every 5 hours

 Fire brigades across the UK are dealing with a lithium-ion battery fire roughly every five hours, prompting warnings from fire chiefs over a rapidly growing hazard they say regulation has failed to keep up with. New figures obtained by insurer QBE Insurance through freedom of information requests show fire services attended 1,760 fires linked to lithium-ion batteries in 2025-around 4.8 incidents a day. That marks a 147% rise over three years.

The batteries, now ubiquitous in modern life, power mobile phones, vapes, electric toothbrushes, toys, e-bikes, e-scooters and electric vehicles. Fire services say the risks associated with faulty, damaged or poorly manufactured units are escalating faster still. Electric vehicle fires rose by 133% over the same period, in line with a sharp increase in EV ownership, which has tripled across the UK in three years.

E-bike incidents are emerging as a particular concern. QBE's analysis found they accounted for nearly a third of all lithium-ion battery fires nationally in 2025.

There were 520 e-bike-related fires last year, up from 149 in 2022. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) handled 44% of those incidents, with 230 e-bike fires in the capital alone last year. Five deaths linked to e-bike and e-scooter fires have been recorded in the past three years.

Deputy commissioner for prevention Spencer Sutcliff said the brigade remains "extremely concerned" about the risks.

He said: "We believe regulation can help improve product safety and reduce the chance of consumers being exposed on online marketplaces to faulty or counterfeit products such as e-bike batteries, chargers and conversion kits."

Fire chiefs say the danger is not just the frequency of incidents, but the behaviour of lithium-ion fires themselves. When failing, they can undergo a process known as thermal runaway-an uncontrollable chain reaction causing temperatures to spike, toxic gases to vent under pressure, and intense jet-like flames that are difficult to extinguish. Adrian Simmonds, risk manager at QBE Insurance, warned that the fires behave very differently to conventional blazes.

He said: "Thermal runaway caused by these types of batteries burns differently, takes much longer to tackle and can require up to 10 times more water to contain.

"Awareness of safe charging, storage and disposal is essential. People should use only certified e-bikes and batteries, charge them away from escape routes and avoid charging items overnight."

Nearly half of all lithium-ion battery fires-46%-are now occurring inside people's homes, according to the data gathered from 46 of 52 UK fire and rescue services. Incidents involving improper disposal have also triggered fires in bin lorries and recycling centres, with the wider economic cost now estimated at more than £1bn a year.

A recent blaze believed to have started in a vape shop in Glasgow caused severe damage to a historic building and led to a two-week closure of Central Station, Scotland's busiest rail hub, highlighting the wider infrastructure risk.

The National Fire Chiefs Council said the findings reflected frontline experience.

"We are especially concerned about fires involving poorly manufactured, modified or converted e-bikes, which continue to account for a disproportionate number of incidents," a spokesperson said. "Many of these fires occur in people's homes and people have tragically died as a result."

The Fire Brigades Union warned that fire services also need greater investment to cope with emerging hazards, particularly toxic gases released during lithium-ion battery fires, which can pose long-term health risks to firefighters and the public.

Fire leaders say the technology is now embedded in everyday life, but the safety framework around it is lagging behind-with consequences already being felt in homes, streets and critical infrastructure across the UK.