NFRS 2023 71 - Lithium battery fires
You asked for
As a freedom of information request, please provide data regarding the number of lithium battery related fires you have recorded. Specifically, please provide:
- Annual totals for the years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and so far in 2023
- Those annual totals split by the type of lithium device involved (such as e-bike, e-cigarette, e-scooter).
- Those annual totals split by the number of related injuries or fatalities
Please provide such data electronically, ideally as a spreadsheet.
Our Response
Answer: - Total number of lithium battery related fires you have recorded. The recording of lithium batteries is not mandatory on the incident form and is optionally entered by attending crews.
| Type | Year | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||
| Electric Bike | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 2 |
| Phone/Charger | 1 | 2 | - | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Lithium Battery | 1 | - | - | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 20 |
| Electric Scooter | - | - | - | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 14 |
| E-cigarette | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | 10 |
| Electric Vehicle | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Electric Bicycle | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 2 |
| Total | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 58 |
Data broken down in Table 1 by the total number of casualties by cause type. Please note the below table will include minor injuries, serious injuries and fatalities.
| Type | Year | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||
| Electric Bike | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Phone/Charger | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| Lithium Battery | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Electric Scooter | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| E-cigarette | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| Electric Vehicle | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Electric Bicycle | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Total | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 |