The London Fire Brigade is concerned about dangers associated with lithium batteries

PART of a flat in West Hampstead was torched this week while residents were sleeping in another e-bike battery blaze.

Firefighters are reminding e-bike and e-scooter owners about the importance of charging their vehicles safely following a fire at a block of flats on Abbey Road in West Hampstead.

Part of a bedsit and the front door of a neighbouring flat were damaged by a fire in the early hours of Monday. The blaze “would have been a terrifying incident” if the residents in the flat hadn’t been woken up by a crackling sound from the smoking battery.

Fire crews believe the fire was caused by an e-bike lithium battery charging in a bedroom which then burst into flames. There were no smoke alarms in the property.

Two residents left before the brigade arrived and five remained in the property. In 2023, e-bikes and e-scooters became London’s fastest-growing fire risk, with around 170 fires. Three people died and around 60 people were hurt.

Station officer Steve Duffy was at the scene.

He said: “This incident shows how important working smoke alarms are throughout a property. The occupants were asleep when the battery started to make a crackling noise in the bedroom as it was charging. It is pure chance that the battery owner heard the noise.

“The fire spread rapidly and he managed to remove it from the room and place it in a communal stairwell. By placing it in the stairwell it meant a fire escape route was blocked.

“Despite the battery not being placed in an ideal spot – it completely destroyed the neighbour’s front door.”

Station officer Duffy added that if the battery had gone into thermal runaway in the bedroom [this is when there’s a dangerous chemical reaction as a battery cell overheats] then the other inhabitants could have been seriously injured or much much worse.

He said: “Our advice is to store and charge these items in a location away from where people live, such as in a shed or a garage, and if they have to be stored inside, make sure there is smoke detection fitted, it’s kept it in a room where you can shut a door and contain a fire and your means of escape is not obstructed.”