QUEBEC CITY – The Quebec Fire Protection Service (SPCIQ) on Wednesday launched an awareness campaign on the risks that lithium-ion batteries can pose.

Quebec City Firefighters are warning that improper use of items that use lithium-ion batteries can create fire hazards and want to educate the public on best practices.

The awareness campaign, titled “Battery Full of Risks,” highlights three practices to avoid: suffocation, overcharging and tampering, which are three causes of fire.

Everything indicates that the fire in an eight-apartment building in Sherbrooke last Monday was caused by an electric bicycle battery explosion. The disaster did not cause any injuries but did cause significant damage to the building on rue des Boisés in the south of the city.

Statistics from the Quebec Fire Protection Agency show that there will be seven times more fires caused by this type of battery in 2022 compared to 2021. Firefighters attribute this increase to manufacturers’ use of increasingly common lithium-ion batteries, which are becoming more and more common. On the other hand, consumers aren’t always aware of the risks associated with misusing lithium-ion batteries, firefighters say.

Health Canada issued an alert on May 11 in light of the increase in fires caused by lithium-ion batteries in electric mobility devices. Health Canada has written that lithium-ion batteries can experience thermal runaway, a phenomenon that occurs when excessive heat builds up in the battery due to damage, failure, or misuse.

According to Health Canada, this excessive heat, combined with the battery’s highly flammable contents, can cause an explosion or fire that is extremely difficult to extinguish.