Request
We would like to investigate whether there has been an increase in fires caused by items that contain lithium-ion batteries, particularly items that children or young people have access to, such as toys, phones and laptops etc.
Therefore, under Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations, I would like to request the following information:
- The number of household fires caused (or thought to be caused) by lithium-ion batteries in toys, toothbrushes, phones and laptops from 01.01.2021 to 31.12.2021
- The number of household fires caused (or thought to be caused) by lithium-ion batteries in toys, toothbrushes, phones and laptops from 01.01.2022 to 31.12.2022
- The number of household fires caused (or thought to be caused) by lithium-ion batteries in toys, toothbrushes, phones and laptops from 01.01.2023 to 30.10.2023
- The number of fires in dustcarts and waste-processing centres fires caused (or thought to be caused) by lithium-ion batteries in toys, toothbrushes, phones and laptops from 01.01.2021 to 31.12.2021
- The number of fires in dustcarts and waste-processing centres fires caused (or thought to be caused) by lithium-ion batteries in toys, toothbrushes, phones and laptops from 01.01.2022 to 31.12.2022
- The number of fires in dustcarts and waste-processing centres fires caused (or thought to be caused) by lithium-ion batteries in toys, toothbrushes, phones and laptops from 01.01.2023 to 30.10.2023
If possible, please can you detail what has caused the fire, or what is thought to have caused the fire so we can identify the source of the fire.
I would like you to provide this information in an excel document and have the data broken down by month per year so we can see if there are any spikes on particular months over the years. For instance, if there are any spikes in November, December or January when people may be clearing out homes in or around the Christmas period.
Response
Further to our email acknowledging your Environmental Information Regulations request (reference 2023-220), our response is as follows.
You requested information on:
- the number of household fires caused (or thought to be caused) by lithium-ion batteries in toys, toothbrushes, phones and laptops in 2021, 2022 and 2023
- the number of fires in dustcarts and waste processing centres caused (or thought to be caused) by lithium-ion batteries in toys, toothbrushes, phones and laptops in the same years.
We do not hold information on household fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.
Regarding fires in waste vehicles and facilities, please see the attached spreadsheet for information on the number of occurrences, including what we know about the batteries thought to have caused them. As requested, we have broken down the occurrences by year and month.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you may ask for an internal review, which should be submitted within two months of when you received our response to either informationrequests@nlwa.gov.uk or enquiry form quoting the above reference.
If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you may complain to the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, or via their online portal. The Information Commissioner will not usually accept complaints before a review has been completed.
