It has become a pressing issue in Ontario and one that Toronto’s fire chief has called the “greatest public safety risk” facing the city – the number of fires triggered by lithium ion batteries used to power e-scooters and e-bikes.

Toronto fire officials have been sounding the alarm over the hazards of lithium-ion batteries, citing a lack of regulation and improper storage among the reasons.

There have been more than 100 lithium ion battery fires in Toronto alone this year, and in his 2025 annual report to City Council, Chief Jim Jessop said the number of these types of fires in the city has increased 214 per cent in the last three years.

“This is the greatest and most evolving public safety risk in the City of Toronto,” Jessop said earlier this year, 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.

The Ford government said Thursday it will change two laws aimed at cracking down on those whose actions help spark those fires. Solicitor General Michael Kerzner says the fire code will be amended to prevent owners from modifying batteries to make their bikes and scooters move faster than intended while the second legal change would essentially ban owners from keeping e-bike and e-scooters in apartment hallways.

“We want to make sure that people do not modify batteries for an unintended purpose or juice them up. We want to make sure that a battery that has been certified is used for the purpose that it is,” said Kerzner.

The Ontario fire marshal’s office has said that the number of lithium-ion battery-related fires is rising sharply across the province as they power more household devices such as electric bikes, laptops, phones, and portable chargers.

The new laws are expected to take effect in 2027.