The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has issued a major safety warning to shoppers ahead of Black Friday, highlighting the severe fire risks posed by e-bikes and e-scooters. This alert comes as the service responds to a record number of blazes caused by faulty lithium-ion batteries and conversion kits this year.
A Record Number of Dangerous Fires
Firefighters have been called to an average of 18 fires per month in 2025 where an e-bike or e-scooter battery was the cause. The LFB predicts that if this trend continues, it will have attended 200 such fires by the end of the year.
Tragically, these incidents have proven fatal. Two lives have been lost to e-bike fires in 2025 alone, bringing the total number of fatalities to five since 2023. In a particularly alarming detail, the LFB confirmed that in all five fatal incidents, the person who died was not even the owner of the e-bike that caught fire.
Personal Stories of Loss and Survival
The human cost of these fires is devastating. Jahmell Campbell, 24, described the moment his e-scooter burst into flames in his family's Catford flat in March. "It was like a grenade had been thrown into the flat," he said. The scooter had been charged just 45 minutes earlier.
The force of the blaze caused the internal walls to collapse, completely destroying his grandmother's home and rendering it uninhabitable. Mr Campbell, his father, and his grandmother escaped with their lives, but the psychological impact remains. "I would never get another e-scooter. No chance! I am not sure how we all made it out of the house alive," he added.
In a separate incident, Jo Frost lost her home of 23 years to a fire caused by an e-bike conversion kit bought from an online marketplace. Her 14-year-old son Ollie, his friend, and the family dog were trapped upstairs but survived by shutting the bedroom door, which prevented the flames from spreading.
"In minutes, my family lost our home and everything inside," Ms Frost said. "I wasn't aware of the dangers of buying a conversion kit online – or that it wasn't regulated. I hope that hearing my story will warn others of the potential dangers."
The Dangers of Online Marketplaces and Conversion Kits
The LFB is specifically urging consumers to be extremely cautious when buying e-bikes, e-scooters, or conversion kits from online marketplaces, especially during Black Friday sales. These platforms often lack the regulation of high street retailers, who are more likely to stock products with batteries and chargers that meet UKCA or CE safety standards.
Conversion kits, which transform a standard bicycle into an e-bike, pose a significant threat. They rarely include a battery or charger, leading shoppers to buy these components separately. This dramatically increases the risk of purchasing an incompatible, sub-standard, or faulty product. Such items can cause batteries to overcharge, leading to fires that spread with incredible speed and produce toxic smoke.
London Fire Commissioner Jonathan Smith emphasised the severity, stating: "As we have seen, these fires have devastating consequences – they are fast, explosive, toxic and can be fatal."
To drive the message home during one of the busiest shopping periods, the LFB broadcast its warning on the largest digital screen in Europe at Piccadilly Circus. The brigade's #ChargeSafe campaign continues to push for regulatory changes to prevent the sale of poor-quality batteries and kits via online marketplaces.
Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor for the fire service, offered a stark reminder: "I urge Londoners to think twice about buying an e-bike or conversion kit from online marketplaces and encourage them to shop with reputable retailers – if it seems too good to be true it probably is and could be extremely dangerous."
