A recent phenomenon with workers returning to the workplace is people are increasingly using electric bikes and electric scooters for commuting to and from work. Although these Electric Personal Vehicles (EPVs) have inherent safety concerns while riding them, there are also fire safety concerns when they are not. More specifically, most EPV fires occur when they are being stored or charged. The safety hazard to people is when the storage and charging is done inside of an occupied building. The fire hazards have significantly increased with the boom in storing and charging them at work and home. Here are the latest insights to help keep you, your family, and community safe from the fire hazards related to EPVs with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

A three-alarm fire in New York City on Saturday, November 5, 2022, highlighted the dangers of these EPVs being stored, charged, and worked-on in buildings. According to a news report, 43 people were injured in a fire, which was reported to have started in an apartment on the 20th floor where several of these devices were found¹. The cause of the fire was reported to be one of the lithiumion batteries ignited.

So far this year, there have been more than 130 fires in New York City where the source of ignition was an EPV. There has been a spike in fires of this type, as there were only 104 e-bike/e-scooter fires reported by FDNY in 2021. The fires not only caused injuries, but they were also deadly. FDNY reported that four people were killed in such fires in 2021 and there have already been five fatalities this year².

Since it is well documented by safety groups, including Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that there is a potential for a fire where rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are, improperly charged, overcharged, or damaged, it is best to follow some common advice to help prevent fires in EPVs.

Safety Tips

• Purchase devices, batteries, and chargers that are listed.
• Use batteries intended for the device.
• Use a charging cord intended for the device.
• Do not overcharge.
• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for device use and recharging.

Fire Emergencies

Lithium-ion battery fires produce very toxic gases, and they burn very hot. They are unique and very challenging fires, even for firefighters in turnout gear with copious amounts of water available to extinguish them. The best advice when a fire of this type occurs is to immediately evacuate the building and call the fire department. If you have carefully considered the storage area, building occupants will be able to evacuate safely. But remember to close the door to the storage/charging area, which will hopefully keep the fire contained until the firefighters arrive.

Storage/Charging Areas

• Outside is best!
• Do not store/charge EPVs in a path of egress or at an exit door.
• Never store EPVs in exit stairwells.
• Limit combustibles near EPVs.

We can reduce the possibility of fire by purchasing safe, listed, and compatible devices, batteries, and charging equipment. If much thought is given to planning and executing an evacuation from the workplace and home, the fire department will only be faced with fighting the resulting fire and not rescuing building occupants. A safe building evacuation is the primary objective when an EPV fire occurs.

A restaurant hood system is extremely effective in extinguishing a kitchen fire automatically. It is installed to protect restaurants from devastating grease fires. When a fire occurs, a “fusible link” above a cooking appliance that is involved in a fire will automatically trigger the system into operation. But grease accumulates on links over time, which will insulate them from the heat of a fire. When this happens, they will not work in a timely manner or not at all. That is why links need to be replaced at least every six months. New fusible links can make the difference between a small fire that is automatically extinguished and a runaway fire that will destroy a restaurant. Here are some common questions and answers that will help you and your customers understand the critical need to periodically replace fusible links, according to code.

Q. What is a hood system and how does the fusible link operate that system?

A. In the cooking areas of a restaurant, there are grease vapors given off during the cooking process. The grease is highly flammable and can ignite causing a fire in the kitchen area. The hood system is designed to extinguish that fire either by an employee operating a manual pull station or automatically by a fusible link.

Q. How does the fusible link trigger the hood system to operate and what happens to the fire?

A. A fusible link is made with two pieces of metal that are soldered together by a softer metal. That softer metal melts when there is a fire, causing the two halves of the link to separate. That action automatically releases the wet chemical to extinguish the fire. At the same time, sources of heat to the cooking appliances are shut off automatically. Without heat to the appliances, the possibility of reignition is significantly reduced.

Q. Which fusible links are used as replacements?

A. If you have serviced the system previously, you will install a new fusible link that matches the one that you are removing. That simply means the temperature ratings are the same. This helps ensure that the two halves of the link will separate when there is a fire and not prematurely when there is no fire. On the other hand, if a different service company installed the links previously, it is a good idea to take a temperature reading to ensure you are installing the right ones.

Q. Why are fusible links replaced and what is the regulation for replacement interval?

A. When grease accumulates on a fusible link, it can insulate it from heat. That is a problem because the links are there to detect heat. The replacement interval is based on an NFPA 96 requirement that says fusible links are to be replaced with new links during the regular six-month maintenance interval. This maintenance work is recorded on the system service tag.

Q. Is the date on the fusible link the date that is recorded on the service tag?

A. The date on the link is the date of manufacture. Both the date of manufacture and the date of installation need to be recorded on the service tag. The replacement of the fusible link is done based on the date of installation.

Fusible links are simple technology. They are two pieces of metal that separate at a predetermined temperature range. But most importantly, we know that fusible links are proven to work in restaurant systems. Installing new fusible links on a regular six-month basis will help ensure the system will automatically operate and extinguish a restaurant fire to keep employees, patrons, and property safe.

Click on our Fusible Links video below for more info.

Plug-in cars and hybrids use the lithium-ion batteries, which are also susceptible to extremely dangerous fires that necessitates the need for special firefighter training. To support safety, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) offers special training for first responders that might need to handle incidents involving a vehicle with a lithium-ion battery. The training was created with grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The program targets firefighters and other necessary emergency responders.

More recently, NFPA received grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to expand on these efforts to provide training to safely handle a much broader range of vehicles, including alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), such as fuel cell and gaseous fuel vehicles. These AFVs are now included in the NFPA firefighter training offering.

Here is a link for more information that you can share with your local fire department: https://www.nfpa.org/Training-and-Events/By-topic/Alternative-Fuel-Vehicle-Safety-Training/About-the-program.