Fire service urges battery safety as lithium-ion blazes surge across Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Firefighters across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are warning residents to take battery safety seriously after a sharp rise in fires caused by lithium-ion batteries and charging electrical products.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) says incidents involving lithium-ion batteries have increased dramatically in recent years. In 2020, crews attended just six fires linked to lithium-ion batteries. That figure rose year-on-year, with firefighters tackling 43 lithium-ion battery blazes last year alone.
The Service also recorded its highest ever number of callouts in 2025 to fires caused by charging electrical products, alongside a record number of incidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters.
Firefighters have responded to several serious lithium-ion battery fires in recent months, many of which caused significant damage to homes and buildings. These included a charging battery that exploded through the walls of a house in Portsmouth, a charging unit that sparked a shed fire on the Hampshire-Wiltshire border, and a number of fires involving e-bikes in areas including Fleet, Southampton, Aldershot and Andover.
As part of Electrical Fire Safety Week, HIWFRS have been urging people to check their electrical products for warning signs and ensure devices are being used, charged and stored safely.
Residents are advised to:
• Buy electrical products from reputable retailers
• Check products are certified with a UKCA or CE mark
• Register products online to receive safety alerts and recall information
• Use only the charger supplied with the device, or a manufacturer-approved replacement
• Dispose of old or damaged batteries safely
The Fire Service is also reinforcing the importance of working smoke alarms, with this year’s Electrical Fire Safety Week focusing on encouraging households to check and test smoke alarms regularly.
According to research by Electrical Safety First, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ranks sixth in the UK for smoke alarm blackspots, meaning a high number of homes either lack alarms or fail to maintain them. The same survey found that only 35 per cent of Southampton households test their smoke alarms monthly, with some surrounding towns and cities performing even worse.
Giuseppe Capanna, product safety engineer at Electrical Safety First, said:
“Every second counts when it comes to escaping a fire in your home and smoke alarms can be the life-saving gadget that proves to be the difference between life and death. But they need to be maintained to ensure they operate properly.
“People living in a property without a smoke alarm altogether are at a significantly higher risk of being serious injured or worse, losing their life, in the event a fire grips their home.
“Many people affected by fire often tell us they simply didn’t think something like this could happen to them, which is why it’s so important households take just a few seconds to test their smoke alarm.”
HIWFRS is reminding residents that the beep of a smoke alarm should never be ignored, as it could one day be the warning that saves lives.
