Britannia Fire calls for greater fire safety around lithium-ion batteries

Andy Spence, managing director of fire extinguisher manufacturer Britannia Fire, suggests that these figures are troubling, but not surprising.

“Lithium-ion battery fires are, by their very nature, more unpredictable and intense than conventional fires,” said Spence. “They’re harder to extinguish, often behave differently to typical fires and can spread quickly, meaning that standard fire protection measures are not always going to be adequate.”

The Government’s product safety consultation, published at the end of March, acknowledges this concerning trend and explicitly identifies unsafe e-bike batteries, conversion kits and chargers sourced from online marketplaces as a growing and serious hazard.

The consultation proposes significant new duties on producers, suppliers and online marketplaces to act proactively on improving safety standards in products containing lithium-ion batteries. As part of this, the British Standards Institution is developing a fast-tracked Publicly Available Specification for batteries used in e-bikes, e-scooters and conversion kits.

Spence welcomes this consultation as a positive step, but asserts that regulation alone cannot eliminate the risk.

“We welcome the Government’s recognition that the current framework needs strengthening, and the focus on online marketplace accountability is long overdue. However, while regulatory reform takes time, lithium-ion fires continue to endanger lives and properties. It’s important for landlords, facilities managers and business owners to consider extra precautions, particularly so for locations with charging stations or clusters of battery-powered devices.”

Fire safety solutions

In direct response to the rise in lithium-ion battery fires, Britannia Fire recently launched two new products: the P50 AVD fire extinguisher and the AVD fire blanket, designed to work together to contain, cool and suppress lithium-ion fires quickly and safely.

The AVD fire blanket is available in three different sizes to suit a variety of battery-powered products. The blanket is placed over the device to contain flames, block heat radiation and prevent fire from spreading.

The P50 AVD fire extinguisher is the newest addition to Britannia Fire’s P50 composite range. This can be discharged under the blanket edge to rapidly cool and extinguish the fire, in turn preventing reignition. As is the case with all P50 extinguishers, the P50 AVD boasts a 20-year lifespan and only requires servicing once every ten years. It’s fully recyclable.

Spence continued: “As a nation, we are using many more products and devices containing lithium-ion batteries than ever before. It’s vital that we introduce measures to make these products safer at the point of purchase, but it’s also important that fire safety equipment keeps pace with this growing trend so that people and property protected.”

With lithium-ion battery devices now prevalent across a wide range of professional and consumer environments, Britannia Fire’s AVD products are particularly suited to locations such as bike storage areas in residential blocks or offices, IT equipment rooms and office environments, schools, universities and public sector buildings.

*Further information is available online at www.britannia-fire.co.uk