Luckily no one was injured after this e-bike being charged caught on fire damaging a store and apartment in Alderwood. Photos by Suzie Basheir.
No one was hurt after an e-bike caught on fire in an apartment above a store in Alderwood.
Neighbours said flames were shooting out an apartment window about 10:45 p.m. on May 18 above Sherway Physiotherapy at 324 Brown’s Line.
“There was smoke everywhere,” said Carrie, who lives a few doors away. “There were about eight firetrucks fighting the fire.”
She said one pumper spent all night at the scene in case of possible flare ups.
Carrie said three men lived in the apartment and they were not home at the time as the device was being charged.
Three men who lived in the apartment were at home when the stubborn e-bike fire erupted. They are now homeless.
Neighbours said the men regularly repaired the e-bikes and added parts to them.
The physiotherapy clinic, and those next door, appeared to have suffered major water damage from firefighters attacking the lingering blaze.
There were a number of people from area apartments and a nearby bar checking out the firefight.
The burnt out e-bike, and another one, were left outside on the street. The fire blackened window was wide open with the fire damage clearly visible.
The window at the top of the store is blackened from the fire that residents say was flaming from the window.
“Our apartment was left smelly from the black smoke,” Carrie said. “You could smell it from down the street.”
It is not known if, or how many, residents had to seek shelter elsewhere due to the intense battery blaze. It is not known if charges will be laid.
Flames sparked by lithium-ion batteries are on the rise and pose a “significant risk,” the city’s fire chief said after a blaze aboard a subway train demonstrated how quickly flames sparked by a faulty battery can spread.
There was a major e-bike fire on a TTC subway car on New Year’s Eve that led to the bikes banned from GO Trains last March.
Firefighters spent the entire night manning the blaze in case it flared up.
The transit system has begun conducting electric bicycle inspections across the network, looking for uncertified batteries which could be a potential fire hazard.
And two residents were hospitalized last October after another e-bike caught fire inside a Toronto apartment.
Fire officials are warning e-bike users to purchase batteries from the manufacturers and stay away from replica or cheaper brands, which may not be recommended for the devices.
Hours earlier this boat being docked at Humber Bay Park West exploded and caught on fire. Photo CP-24.
No one was also injured on May 18 after boat exploded and caught on fire while being docked at a Humber Bay West park.
“Ya we got to see most of this from the balcony,” said a witness on social media. “Never seen clouds of smoke like that before.”
“Yeah I called a couple times, after forever it just ended,” Straxi wrote. “By that point I heard the firefighters, but I was really surprised there was no hold.”