A day after Calgary Fire Department officials warned about the fire risk posed by lithium-ion batteries, they responded to two more fires that appear to have been started by them. At 3:35 a.m. Friday, fire crews were called to the 6600 block of 106 Avenue S.E. for reports of a fire at a large commercial warehouse. Staff had voluntarily left the building, allowing firefighters to locate the fire in an outdoor compactor, where they extinguished it. Investigators spoke to an employee, who said they saw a glow from some boxes just before the fire broke out. The staff member also reported having other fires in the compactor due to having llithium-ion batteries accidentally left in boxes before going through the compactor. Investigators concluded that was the most likely cause of Friday’s blaze. Then, just before 4 a.m., crews responded to the 0-100 block of Saddlemont Close N.E. after receiving reports of a structure fire. Arriving fire crews discovered a two-storey home with smoke coming from a side basement door. Everyone inside the house had gotten out and there were no injuries. Firefighters got into the basement and quickly knocked down the fire, and rescued a cat in another part of the house. The fire was contained to the basement suite, where an investigator determined it had started from an electric scooter than had been plugged in. Safe charging practice: CFD Following a Thursday morning fire on Covercreek Mews N.E. that originated in a garage where three electric scooters were being charged, the fire department reminded Calgarians of the importance of following safe charging practices to reduce the risk of lithium-ion fires. The fire department said that in 2026, 18 fires to date have been started by lithium-ion batteries, and when you add in Friday’s two, that exceeds the 2025 total of 19. They say it’s a combination of issues, ranging from offshore batteries that are not certified in Canada, or damaged batteries, among other things. “We are seeing (situations) where they’re (e-scooters) not charged correctly or looked after properly. We are certainly seeing that, and every fire service around the world is seeing the exact same thing,” said Calgary fire chief Steve Dongworth. The trend isn’t unique to Calgary: fire officials in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have all warned about a growing number of lithium-ion battery fires. Several safe-charging recommendations include using the charging cable your device comes with; avoiding charging things overnight, especially where you’re not going to check on it frequently; and looking at where you are charging those devices. “Particularly with phones, (safe charging includes) making sure you charge them on a hard, flat surface, like a table or a desk,” said Calgary Fire Department public information officer Alex Kwan. “Where there’s a concern is if you charge a device on soft material, like a mattress or a couch cushion, or under any blankets it actually can, the device gets hot enough to light those items on fire. So those are a couple of different things that people can do to stay mindful.” One expert says anything charging beyond its 100 per cent capacity is risking having it cause a fire. “One cell could go bad or a couple cells could go bad which means low capacity and the balancing gets out of whack,” said Doug Goble of Global Seismic Repairs. “And then too much charge or too much discharge happens in one or two cells you get smoke and possibly fire.” Dongworth said efforts to determine the origin of uncertified batteries coming into Canada continues. “We’re pushing for greater regulation both nationally, and we’re having those conversations locally as well ,” he said. With files from CTV News’ Tommy Osborne
