Two dogs die and two homes destroyed in separate e-bike and e-scooter blazes just hours apart
5 February 2025, 18:46 | Updated: 5 February 2025, 18:48
Two trapped dogs have died in two separate blazes sparked by e-bikes and e-scooters leaving two homes gutted.
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Battery failings caused the house fires that occurred just hours apart in West Hampstead and Feltham earlier this week.
A charging e-scooter set alight at the West Hampstead home at 10.30am on Monday.
The fire quickly spread and around 60 firefighters were deployed to the scene to put it out.
No one was injured in the blaze apart from a dog found dead inside the property, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.
On Tuesday the battery pack of a converted e-bike burst into flames inside the Feltham home at 2.35am.
Read more: Man, 23, charged with murder after mother-of-one 'rammed off e-bike' in 4x4 'hit and run'
Four people escaped from the property, with two later taken to hospital.Firefighters saved two dogs trapped in the blaze, but a third dog died.
Both fires are believed to have been triggered by the catastrophic failures of lithium batteries.
The LFB said the incidents are yet another example of why the Brigade has been running its #ChargeSafe campaign, with e-bikes and e-scooters becoming one of the capital’s fastest-growing fire risks.There were 142 e-bike fires and 29 e-scooter fires last year, according to the LFB.
Three people have died in fires caused by e-bike battery failures in London since 2023 and more than 100 people have been hurt, it added.
LFB deputy assistant commissioner for prevention and protection Richard Field said: "It cannot be underestimated the level of destruction each of these fires have caused, with both homes completely damaged by fire and smoke.
"It's extremely fortunate that no people have been seriously hurt but a dog was sadly found dead at the scene of each fire."
"Both of these fires were caused by catastrophic battery failures. When these batteries fail, they can cause ferocious fires, and the consequences can be devastating."
In October, LFB commissioner Andy Roe told LBC it was "unacceptable" that 1,300 buildings in London remain unsafe and that he gets anxious about what could happen.He called on building owners to take more responsibility, and for construction processes to be improved, as more high rises are built.
The commissioner said it would be months before they know what started the latest high rise tragedy in Dagenham, east London, on a block where unsafe cladding was in the process of being removed.
Speaking to LBC at Old Kent Road fire station in south London, the fire brigade chief said: “I’m afraid until we sort out the built environment, that risk of catastrophic building failure and extreme incidents, is alive and present in the capital.“
Whether it was Richmond House, where a block of flats burnt to the ground or the case of a more serious fire in Wembley where cladding had become involved or at Dagenham – where, yes, a lot of the cladding had come off, but many other defects were revealed in that building.“
"I know I’ve got this immense responsibility to both the people and London and thousands of firefighters who put their life on the line on a daily basis, that’s a huge responsibility.
"That should cause me anxiety and it’s why as a service we will be both relentless in driving forward the changes still needed.”
