Fire prevention week targets battery fires. Your home policy may not cover the e-bike

Fire Prevention Week runs Oct. 4 to 10 this year, and the National Fire Protection Association has built its 2026 campaign around charging lithium-ion batteries safely -- the batteries in e-bikes, e-scooters, power tools, laptops and phones. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reviewed 227 incidents involving e-bikes, e-scooters and similar products from 2019 through 2023. Fires made up 195 of them, and 120 were tied to thermal runaway during normal charging, accounting for 18 deaths and 102 injuries, according to the agency's proposed battery safety rule published in June. That rule would make three UL safety standards mandatory: UL 2849 for e-bike electrical systems, UL 2272 for other personal e-mobility devices and UL 2271 for the batteries themselves. New York City's numbers suggest a sustained safety push can pay off: deaths from lithium-ion battery fires fell from 18 in 2023 to six in 2024 and one in 2025, per the FDNY's year-end report, which credited consistent safety messaging and enforcement.