FOI Request 2261

Subject: Battery and E-Bike Fires

Status: Complete

Date received: November 2025

Question Asked:

I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

1. From your incident recording system, please could you provide a yearly breakdown for how many fire incidents were attended by your service in each calendar year, from 2019 up to the date of this request, where the source of ignition was recorded as lithium-ion or similar battery.

2. Of these incidents, how many were logged as being caused by am e-bike or e-scooter battery?

For both above, please could you also provide the following breakdowns by calendar year:

a. Number of casualties caused by such incidents, broken down by the 4 subcategories of non-fatal casualties and fatalities.

b. The most casualties recorded in a single incident.

c. Number of fires in each type of location, including:

• Dwellings, including breakdown of 3 flat/maisonette sub-categories

• Other non-residential buildings

• Road vehicle fires

• Other outdoors

d. Number of fires by cause (defect, act or omission)

e. Number of fires by size of spread (item, room, floor, 2 floors, more than 2 floors, roofs and spaces, no damage)

Our Response:

Currently the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System (IRS) has insufficient facilities for the comprehensive recording, and subsequent analysis, of the involvement of lithium ion batteries at fires attended. Therefore, due to the specific information asked for, CFRS cannot provide the data requested.

Outcome: Data Not Held

FOI responded to within timescales: YES

Further action: NO