Toronto Fire Chief calls province's efforts to prevent lithium-ion battery fires 'a good first step'
· Toronto Sun
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Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop says the province has taken “a good first good step” in trying to reduce the number of lithium-ion battery fires in Toronto, which he calls “the greatest public fire safety risk in Canada’s largest city right now.”
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On Thursday, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said the province will make modifying lithium-ion batteries illegal early next year, according to CBC .
“What we want to do is we want to make sure that people do not modify batteries for an unintended purpose – or juice them up,” he said at Queen’s Park. “We want to make sure that a battery that has been certified is used for the purpose that it is (intended for).”
The rechargeable batteries are used in e-scooters and e-bikes and Jessop said other provincial changes to the Fire Code include banning storing them in common areas like hallways and in front of stairway exits.
“It is a good first step in reducing the probability and consequences of these fires of which, as of today, stand at 124 for 2026 in Toronto,” Jessop told the Toronto Sun on Friday.
“Toronto Fire and the City of Toronto look forward to working with the Solicitor General’s office and the office of the Fire Marshal to continue exploring additional amendments in the second phase of this consultation early in 2027 because we do believe there is further work to be done.”
For example, Jessop wonders if there should be a limit on the number of e-bikes that can be stored in a highrise.
“But there will absolutely need to be additional consultation with stakeholders, with engineers, with Toronto Fire, with the office of the Fire Marshal, obviously with the condo and apartment associations, that is one example,” said Jessop.
“Where do they go? How are they stored? Who’s responsible for providing for example fire-rated storage areas?”
Nearly 100 lithium-ion battery fires in Toronto by September
In early September , the city recorded the highest-ever number of lithium-ion battery fires reaching 97, four months before the year had even ended. The previous record was 91 set in 2025.
Jessop said the issue has exploded in the city over just three years.
“Since 2023, we have had well north of a 200% increase in the number of lithium-ion battery fires,” he told The Sun . “It has not only placed increased risk to the public primarily because of how fast and hot these fires burn. It has also increased the risk to the responding firefighters and personnel.”
“It’s like a chemical chain reaction that doesn’t stop. It is a lot more difficult for us to put it out. It takes exponentially greater quantities of water. The gasses it produces are toxic and carcinogenic. And it has really, really changed the landscape for fire fighting in Toronto.”
Jessop said there are three reasons these batteries cause fires .
“The lithium-ion batteries are not required to meet a standard to come into Canada,” he said, adding that’s a federal regulation they’re pushing to change.
“People modifying their batteries for longer charges. And people, when their batteries are damaged, they don’t dispose of them. They keep using them and then, all of the sudden, they go into thermal runaway.”
If passed, the provincial regulations could lead to orders or penalties in various situations.
“So the enforcement of the Fire Code falls to cities under provincial law,” said Jessop. “So if these regulations are passed in January, if a Toronto Fire inspector, for example, notes that there e-bikes being stored in hallways and stairways in high-rise buildings, they could order them removed. They could charge the person that put the bike there. So it allows us to start mitigating the risk.”