Cambridgeshire fire service warning after ebike battery bought online causes Cambridge flat fire

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service has reiterated a warning about safe charging after tackling another blaze caused by a lithium-ion battery on an e-bike.

A city fire crew was called to a flat fire in East Road, Cambridge, at 10.11pm on Friday, December 22 and used breathing apparatus and a hose reel to extinguish the blaze.

The fire service said the fire showed “the consequences of using damaged battery packs”.

It warned: “The resident had a lucky escape and was unharmed but it could have been very different.

“The e-bike was bought from an online marketplace. If you have bought secondhand e-bikes/e-scooters or other battery operated electrical goods for Christmas presents, please examine them carefully and do not use if the battery pack, cable or plug looks damaged.

“Always charge batteries when awake and alert. Make safe charging your new year’s resolution.”

A house fire on June 30 last year that claimed the lives of Cambridge mother Gemma Germeney, 31, and her two children, Lilly Peden, 8, and Oliver Peden, 4, was started by a replacement e-bike battery that was purchased after the original was stolen.

And on December 16, firefighters were called to a house fire in Wimpole Road, Barton, after a rechargeable torch left on charge overnight caught fire.

Eddie Kehoe, co-founder of The Electric Bike Shop on Newmarket Road, Cambridge, has offered free inspections of batteries and chargers on electric bikes and e-scooters after seeing “so many unsafe batteries and chargers coming through our workshop”.