Fire Protection for Lithium-ion Battery Storage and Manufacturing

To protect against the dangerous possibility of thermal runaway, places where lithium-ion batteries are stored or made need special fire suppression systems.

What is Thermal Runaway?

Lithium-ion batteries are charged and drained to meet the grid’s energy needs. This flow of energy into and out of the batteries heats them up. When a battery is made wrong, a short can happen, which can cause thermal runaway.
Thermal runaway starts when a cell overheats and fails, producing heat it cannot shed. It can release harmful, flammable gases along with fire, and the heat can push the cells around it into the same failure. Fires in these batteries can get very dangerous, and they can start up again hours or days later because of thermal runaway.

Warning signs, and how little time you get

A failing battery often gives notice. If you see any of these, stop using it, move people away and do not charge it again:

• swelling or bulging of the pack or cell;
• a cracked or dented casing after a fall, a crash or water exposure;
• unusual heat while charging or in use;
• hissing, popping or crackling;
• a sharp chemical smell, leaking liquid, or wisps of smoke or vapour;
• a battery that suddenly charges or drains differently from before.

Once a cell goes into thermal runaway, things move fast. In tests by UL Research Institutes’ Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), an e-scooter battery in a closed bedroom took the room to flashover within about 30 seconds of the first visible smoke. So the first move is to get out, not to look for an extinguisher.

Fire Suppression Systems

Because thermal runaway is so dangerous, battery areas need fire protection that is designed and tested for the exact batteries and layout. No single system suits every case:

• Water-based systems, such as sprinklers or water mist, can cool hot cells and limit spread when designed for the tested hazard.
• Gaseous systems, such as inert gas or clean agents, may knock down visible flames, but putting out flames alone is not enough: hot cells must be cooled or they can reignite.
• Large-scale fire testing, such as UL 9540A for battery energy storage, is used to check whether the chosen protection actually works.

Detection Systems

In places where lithium-ion batteries are stored or made, it is important to find a fire quickly. Some effective detection systems in these areas include:

• Off-gas detection, which senses gases a failing cell can give off before a fire develops
• Aspirating (air-sampling) smoke detection, which draws air through small pipes to a sensor that can pick up very little smoke

Storing and charging batteries in a shop, showroom or warehouse

Charging is the riskiest time, and a showroom with many vehicles on charge is the worst case. The UK Department for Transport’s guidance for premises that store e-cycle and e-scooter batteries (February 2024) is a useful checklist, even though it is not Indian law. These points apply to any shop, service centre or godown:

• Keep charging and storage away from exits, stairs and passages, so that one fire cannot block the way out. A ground-floor room with its own outside door is easier for firefighters than a basement.
• Charge in a separate bay or room used for nothing else. Do not stack cartons, packaging, oil or paint beside the chargers.
• Give each charger its own wall socket. No extension boards or multi-plug adapters.
• Leave space between batteries on charge. The UK guidance suggests at least 45 cm, or fireproof separators.
• Do not leave batteries charging overnight, or when the shop is shut and nobody is there.
• Fit smoke detection with an alarm that can be heard in every part of the premises, and a switch outside the room to cut power to the charging area.
• Keep damaged, swollen, leaking or recalled batteries out of normal stock. Put them in a separate, ventilated spot away from stock and exits until the maker or an authorised recycler collects them.
• Keep a list of battery types, numbers and locations, and hand it to the fire brigade when you call. Ask your local fire department whether the premises need a fire NOC and what protection they expect.

For the wider prevention and response plan, see our guide to lithium-ion battery fires.

Charging an e-bike, e-scooter or power bank at home

• Use the charger that came with the vehicle or one the maker approves. Buy replacement packs and chargers from a reputable seller and keep the bill.
• Charge on a hard, flat surface where heat can escape, not on a bed, sofa or pile of clothes.
• Let a warm battery cool after a ride before you plug it in, and unplug it once it is full.
• Never charge while you sleep or when you are out of the house.
• Do not charge or park the vehicle in a passage or by the front door. Keep your way out clear.
• Fit a smoke alarm where you charge. Be wary of conversion kits and cheap packs from unknown sellers, which the London Fire Brigade says can raise the risk if badly fitted or mismatched.

More detail is in our pages on why e-bikes catch fire, power bank safety and phone battery blasts.

Battery fires in India: what our case studies show

Reports we have followed show the pattern:

• Bengaluru, 19 November 2024. A fire at an electric-scooter showroom in Rajajinagar killed its accountant, who was trapped in a small cabin. Fire officials said the showroom had no smoke detectors, sprinklers or extinguishers, and their preliminary theory was a short circuit in battery connections. See the Bengaluru EV showroom fire.
• Lucknow, 21 October 2026. A fire gutted an electric two-wheeler showroom in Gola Bazaar and damaged the shop next door. Nobody was hurt. A battery short circuit is suspected but not confirmed. See the Lucknow showroom fire.
• Seelampur, Delhi, 22 February 2026. Some accounts blamed a charging scooter for a market fire, but the collected reporting said the official cause was not established. See the Seelampur market fire.
• Sankhali, Goa, 12 October 2026. A fire at an electric-scooter service centre was contained in about an hour and a half. The cause has not been ascertained, so we do not call it a battery fire. See the Sankhali service-centre fire.

In most of these cases the cause was only suspected, and in two the fire spread from a place where several electric two-wheelers stood together. You cannot wait for the cause to be known. Plan for the fire before it starts.

If a battery overheats or catches fire

• Warn everyone, get out, and shut the door behind you if that is safe. Call 112, or 101 for the fire brigade, from a safe place. Say that lithium-ion batteries are involved, how many, and where.
• Do not carry a smoking or burning battery or vehicle out through the building. The London Fire Brigade has reported a case where moving a smoking scooter into a shared area spread the fire.
• Use an extinguisher only if the fire is still small, such as one device or one battery, you are trained, and your way out is behind you. Water is the better choice because it cools the cells: UL’s FSRI says water from a hose remains the first-choice tactic for electric vehicle battery fires, and the US aviation regulator, the FAA, says in its safety alert on lithium battery fires in devices that extinguishing agents can briefly suppress open flames but do not stop thermal runaway, and that cooling the device with water is essential. A powder or gas extinguisher may put out the flame without cooling the cells, so the fire can return.
• A small extinguisher will not stop a pack that is already in full thermal runaway. If it is venting, leave.
• Stay out until the fire service says it is safe. Battery fires can restart hours or even days later, so ask the fire service how the battery should be isolated and removed.

Indian standards: what AIS-156 and BIS cover

For new electric two- and three-wheelers, battery safety is checked at type approval under AIS-156, and for cars, buses and goods vehicles under AIS-038 Rev 2. According to a summary compiled by ARAI and published by EVreporter, extra requirements came in two phases, from 1 December 2022 and 31 March 2023. The second phase added a thermal propagation test, where a single cell going into runaway must not cause a fire or explosion, and a warning to the user. BIS standards such as IS 16893 (cells for electric vehicles) and IS 16046 (Part 2) (portable lithium batteries) cover cells and smaller batteries.

A vehicle that passed type approval can still be damaged, overcharged with the wrong charger or modified. Ask the seller which standard the model was approved to, keep the bill and the manual, and use only the maker’s charger.