Fire sparked by e-bike battery, destroys a Mill Bay home

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Fire sparked by e-bike battery, destroys a Mill Bay home CHEK News

On August 5, Mill Bay fire crews were called to a home at about 3 p.m. on Arbutus Terrace, off Inlet Drive, for a report of a fire.

About an hour before the home went up in flames Dave Warbeck, the homeowner, plugged in an e-bike he was holding and charging for a friend to charge in the carport.

“It was just a recumbent bike that she could no longer climb hills on so she had an aftermarket front wheel motor attached to it along with a battery,” Warbeck said. “I was going to take it to her the next morning and just wanted to make sure it was fully charged for her so she could ride it and have some fun with it.”

Throughout the hour he said he was in and out of the carport to go through and put his two dogs in there while his wife was working, and everything was normal.

Just before 3 p.m. is when he started to smell smoke and could see it billowing from the carport.

“I went into panic mode. I went out the back door. I was in swim trunks, no shoes, nothing. I opened the door and could see the electric bike I was charging on fire,” Warbeck explained.

FIRES CAUSED BY ELECTRIC BIKE BATTERIES
As electric bikes become more popular, a number of fire departments across Canada and the United States are reporting more fires caused by their batteries and chargers.

On June 11, one person died in a fire at the Empress Hotel in Vancouver that Vancouver fire officials said was caused by an e-bike battery.

READ MORE: Memorial grows for victim of fatal battery explosion in Vancouver as officials warn of risks

[Fire] Crews said the battery was modified and overcharged, causing it to explode.

Mike Fritz, a bicycle engineer in Chicago, told CBC News that some people do this to make the battery last longer, but it’s a dangerous move.

“Lithium ion batteries have limitations as to how quickly you can take energy out or put energy back in,” Fritz said. “If you take it out faster than the cell is capable, it overheats. If you put it back in faster than the cell can accept that energy, it overheats.”

Fritz advises e-bike owners to only charge the bike with the same charger that came with it and charge it in a place where you can get away safely if something does happen.

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Even when not charging you're not Safe. This just recently happened around here, scooter was just parked... (There's a video)

https://www.idnes.cz/hradec-kralove...avada-hasici.A220817_084036_hradec-zpravy_pos