Toronto’s fire chief used his appearance before City Council on Wednesday to once again raise concerns about lithium-ion battery fires, calling it the greatest public safety risk facing the City of Toronto.
In the 2025 annual report to City Council, Chief Jim Jessop said the number of lithium-ion battery-related fires in the city increased 214 per cent in the last three years, and that fire crews have already responded to 50 such fires this year.
In a video shared Monday, Jessop showed an e‑bike erupting into flames, its battery pack violently exploding and scattering burning cells across a driveway.
“This is the greatest and most evolving public safety risk in the City of Toronto,” said Jessop, while highlighting the increasingly difficult response situations firefighters are facing.
“We’ve had fatalities, we’ve had critical injuries, and one of the more disturbing trends firefighters have been dealing with over the last number of weeks, because of the number of these bikes that are often stored in these apartments, they’re actually exploding when firefighters are inside conducting their primary searches.”
Fire officials have repeatedly warned that when these batteries fail, they enter what’s known as thermal runaway, a chain reaction that causes rapid overheating, explosions, and unpredictable projectiles.
Jessop says he’s seen more than a dozen e-bikes stored in a single apartment, and he detailed two near misses in the last three weeks where firefighters were inside apartments, including one where they were attempting to rescue someone off a balcony and the bikes that were stored on the balcony exploded.
“The challenge we have right now is there is no regulatory requirement limiting the number of bikes to be stored,” said Jessop, adding he’s called on Queen’s Park to amend the fire code to help address the issue.
Jessop says until that happens, fire officials will continue to delegate “significant resources” to public education campaigns, urging residents to avoid charging e‑bikes or scooters overnight, use only manufacturer‑approved chargers, keep devices away from exits and living spaces and replace damaged or swollen batteries immediately.
