The most recent death occurred Saturday after an explosion and fire believed to have been caused by an e-bike battery at the Empress Hotel, an SRO in Downtown Eastside. “(The victim) just happened to be sitting in the wrong place at the wrong time and fell out of the window because of the explosion,” Assistant Chief Walter Pereira told CTV News. “Either he lost his footing or he was sent out the window because of the explosion that followed.” Members of the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service held a press conference on Monday to draw attention to what they called a “worrying upward trend” in the fires – both deadly and non-lethal – caused by these batteries. Captain Matthew Trudeau said the number of fires caused by these batteries has increased by 500 percent since 2016. Lithium-ion batteries are used to power scooters and bicycles, as well as laptops and cell phones. “We have seen some fires where overcharging was one of the problems with these batteries,” he explained. “Depending on the type of lithium ion, we see a thermal phenomenon that can be chemically induced inside, which makes it extremely dangerous and difficult to extinguish, where simply dropping water is not an effective means of extinguishing.”
Lithium-ion battery fires are the number one cause of death by fire in Vancouver City by 2022. 5 people have lost their lives this year. Never overload, modify or leave unattended when charging. Always use replacement equipment approved by the manufacturer. – Vancouver Fire Rescue Services (@VanFireRescue) June 13, 2022 Although overcharging is one of the dangers, Trudeau said that “modifying” batteries is also something they have seen as contributing to these fires. Damaged cables and chargers also make a fire more likely, he added. The danger, according to Trudeau, is not necessarily the type of battery or device for which it is used. “It’s really about safe handling and care,” he said. Chief Karen Fry gave details of the other four people killed this year. He confirmed that a fire in January that killed three members of a family – a child under the age of 10, their mother and grandfather – was caused by one of these batteries. An apartment fire in the West End of the city the next day was also started by a lithium-ion battery. He said the number of people who have died so far in 2022 due to these battery-caused fires is the same as the total number of deaths in the city throughout 2021. That, according to Fry, is one of the reasons the warning is issued now. “We have a big problem with where we are sitting right now, right? We need to educate. We need to protect and we need to save lives,” he said. “This is something we are seeing more and more being used in our community and something we really need to pay attention to.” Fry also estimated that crews are called in on a fire caused by one of these batteries “every two days”. There have been seven deaths from wildfires in the city this year, two of which were not caused by battery-related fires when the Winters Hotel burned down in April. These two bodies were not found until the demolition of the building began, 11 days after the flame engulfed the building. Safety tips for using and storing lithium-ion batteries can be found online.
