London Fire Brigade_Shepherd’s Bush high-rise fire caused by e-bike

[Waterbaby]

22 June 2022 : Safety Warning : "Shepherd’s Bush high-rise fire caused by e-bike prompts safety warning from firefighters"

https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/news/202 ... Electrical

Twitter : London Fire Brigade @LondonFire

WB

[Alexis]

Well, that was an eye opener!

Now this may sound silly, but would people perhaps use those "DIY" lithium-ion batteries to try and repair broken stick hoovers instead of buying from original manufacturers and if so, would there be similar dangers?

[Messy]

IMHO, cheap, mass produced lithium batteries are the new asbestos, but instead of being a long term silent killer where the risks were not known about for years, these batteries are well known to cause dramatic and rapidly developing fires. So quickly do these fires spread, that tried and tested building regs and other standards do not work. The quality of the manufacture is key as a flake of contamination in the cell can cause issues later

For example an e-scooter or e-bike igniting in a perfectly acceptable dead-end office of say 14 to 18m long can cause such a rapid fire spread, that people that are awake and alert can be trapped. If that is the case, a similar fire in dwelling, hotel or residential care home when people are asleep doesn't bare thinking about

My former employer used significant amounts of lithium based batteries in various bespoke designs. We had a lot of overheating battery situations, several near misses and two fires - Thankfully we had appropriate AWD fire extinguishers and both fires didnt go far.

The recent fire at Shepherds Bush is on an east I know well from a professional level. There have been some terrible fires there, but all have pretty much stayed in the compartment of origin. This includes one where the wet riser failed and hose was laid up 22 floors of stairs and a fatal gas explosion in one where an occupant was ejected from the flat by the blast. It turned out that gas meter by-pass kits consisting of pipe fittings and plastic tube were on sale in the estate's pub. All of the gas to the estate was turned off while a search was carried out on flats across 66 floors

Meanwhile all five 22 storey blocks have been reclad in recent years. This recent fire was out of the window - as was the Grenfell fire. But unlike Grenfell, there was no spread to the new cladding.......It just shows you, when the job is done well, tall buildings are relatively safe - and so is stay put.

[stephen1974]

Assuming these are similar electric car batteries as well, extinguishing them will be a problem, especially as this will happen in residential properties where people are not trained but think they can use a fire extinguisher so will grab a nice big water one, and make the problem that much worse.