UK firefighters called to one lithium-ion battery fire every five hours

FoI responses collected by insurer show brigades tackled 1,760 battery-linked fires in 2025, up 147% in three years Fire brigades across the UK are tackling lithium-ion battery fires at a rate of one every five hours, figures show, as fire chiefs warn that public awareness and government regulation have not kept pace with the ubiquity of this new hazard. Lithium-ion batteries power most rechargeable devices including mobile phones, electric toothbrushes, toys and vapes, as well as ebikes, e-scoo