Fire in an electric bike shop, in New York, on 20/10

60 vehicles set on fire.

Fire in a Queens, New York, Bike Shop.

Bike shop fires are becoming increasingly common.

The increase in the fleet and public desires to move towards e-mobility inevitably lead to an increase in the number of fires.

In New York, lithium batteries have caused 6 deaths and 93 injuries since the beginning of 2022.

Source: ABC7

60 bikes and motorcycles charred in the store fire: Lithium as an aggravating factor

While the damage is primarily material, a firefighter was nevertheless injured.

I will not revisit here the difficulty of extinguishing a lithium battery fire. It is also necessary to manage the extinguishing water.

The store contained both gasoline engine motorcycles and electric bikes.

The investigation will need to determine the exact cause of the fire.

Lithium, while not necessarily the triggering element of this fire, remains an aggravating factor.

It will be necessary to determine if the batteries were charging, unattended.

And then??

It will be the umpteenth accident analysis!

The role of authorities and insurers

Awareness campaigns are necessary and must develop, especially in France.

Beyond this first approach, it is appropriate for authorities and insurers to address the topic pragmatically, with businesses but especially with individuals.

It is necessary to propose/impose systems of prevention, detection, and extinguishing that allow for better defining and understanding the risk associated with batteries, whether through regulations, good practice guides, or otherwise...

How can CHAVANON Conseil help you?

We can intervene at several levels, depending on your objectives:

- Development of communication tools and facilitation of awareness sessions, especially for communities.

- Definition of specific risks to the business related to batteries

- Define storage, charging, shipping, or transport rules, also including charging phases for employees in e-mobility

- Raise awareness among logistics/production teams of the various Safety challenges

CHAVANON Conseil remains at your disposal to find a solution tailored to your challenges.

To contact us: contact@chavanon-conseil.fr