Toronto subway e-bike fire highlights dangers of incidents involving lithium-ion batteries

Dramatic videos and phone footage of a fire in a Toronto subway car Sunday afternoon after an e-bike and its battery ignited is raising further questions about the safety of lithium-ion batteries.

CityNews spoke with John, a commuter who asked to be identified by his first name, about the fire. He said he was on the westbound TTC train as it pulled into Sheppard-Yonge station at around 3 p.m. John said he captured a video showing smoke and small flames before an e-bike fully caught on fire.

“One of the guys’ e-bikes just started to make noise … it kind of sounded like a flare and then smoke came out, a couple of seconds later, fire came out,” John said, noting it smelled like a bonfire with a plastic bag tossed in.