Electric scooter fire extinguished on balcony in Espoo

An electric scooter caught fire on a balcony of an apartment building in Espoo on Sunday evening. The fire department received the alarm at around 8:30 PM regarding the incident on Zanseninkuja. It was reported that the scooter’s battery had ignited. According to on-call firefighter Kim Lassila, the scooter had been charging during the evening but was not connected to the charger at the time of the fire.

“The owner acted promptly in attempting to extinguish the fire by covering the scooter with a blanket,” Lassila explained. Firefighters arriving at the scene quickly managed to extinguish the blaze.

Lithium batteries, once ignited, can be particularly challenging to put out. Lassila suggested that there could be several reasons for the battery catch fire. It might have sustained a blow, or it could have been faulty in some other way. “Fortunately, the fire did not spread and did not cause damage to the apartment,” he stated.

The fires that start in lithium batteries tend to create a severe chain reaction, making them difficult to extinguish. For this reason, Lassila advised against charging any electrical devices, including phones, overnight. “One effective method of extinguishing a burning lithium battery is to submerge it in water,” he added.