Fire Door Ignorance & The Terror Of E-Bikes

Fire Door Safety Week started on Monday with a message to residents to ‘check it, close it: protection starts at the door. The week is backed by fire door manufacturers.

New research has revealed generational differences in whether people notice fire doors, understand their function and know where to learn about them, raising serious concerns about public safety in the buildings people use every day.

The survey, carried out for our Fire Door Safety Week found that shockingly, 38% of Gen Z respondents (aged 18-29) feel safe when a fire door is wedged open and 21% of Millennials (aged 30-45) believe a fire door is simply a door painted red.

Shelforce backs Fire Door Safety Week

Fire door manufacturer Shelforce is backing this year's Fire Door Safety Week, calling on local authorities and housing associations to treat fire door specification as a priority rather than an afterthought.

The campaign, now in its twelfth year, was launched by the British Woodworking Federation to raise awareness of fire door performance and tackle years of neglect across the UK's building stock.

Shelforce, which manufactures and supplies compliant fire doors to local authority projects and social housing across the country, says the message still needs repeating.

The company's Fireshel 30-minute fire, smoke and security resistant doorset is currently specified across a number of high-rise refurbishment schemes in Birmingham, where thousands of ageing fire doors are being replaced as part of wider building safety works.

Fireshel is EN tested and third-party accredited, built using the FireFrame system from Winkhaus, and has achieved 49 minutes of fire resistance when tested from both sides to EN1634-1 against a 30-minute requirement. It also carries PAS 024 security certification and Q Mark 170 accreditation.

Ian Barry of Shelforce said: " A fire door only works if it's specified correctly, installed correctly and maintained correctly. We see the difference this makes in the Birmingham refurbishment projects we're involved with, where getting it right matters to the people living behind those doors.”

E-bike and E-scooter fear

New research has revealed a sharp rise in public concern about the fire risks posed by lithium-ion batteries, particularly those found in e-bikes and e-scooters, with over half (59%) of owners saying their fire risk fears have grown since getting one.

The survey found:

High perceived risk with e-bikes (45%) and e-scooters (47%) topping the list of lithium-ion battery powered items most likely to be seen as a fire hazard, ahead of vapes (38%) and electric vehicles (36%).

In the past year, 10% of people have experienced or know someone who has experienced a lithium-ion battery fire.

While most store their devices in a garage or outbuilding (56%), 10% keep them in their hallway, 5% in a shared hallway or landing and 7% in another room in the home.

Ownership

While ownership of these devices is currently relatively low, with e-bike and e-scooter ownership sitting at 8% and 6% respectively, the number of fires attributed to these items is increasing. Freedom of Information data gathered by QBE Insurance Group showed a 93% increase in lithium-ion battery fires between 2022 and 2024, with e-bikes and e-scooters among the most common causes.

Bad conversions

The findings also raise concerns about the potential for counterfeit devices to exacerbate the problem, with 9% of people owning e-bikes and e-scooters created using a conversion kit.

Bad charging

And despite over half (63%) of e-bike and e-scooter owners experiencing a charging issue, a large number continue to charge inside the home (42%) and 8% charge in internal shared spaces, such as hallways in apartment blocks.

The BWF is urging landlords, building managers and responsible persons, especially in high-rise blocks, apartments and HMOs, to ensure fire doors are correctly installed, maintained, inspected and used.

Helen Hewitt, CEO of the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), said: “With e-bikes and e-scooters increasingly stored in homes and communal areas, correctly functioning fire doors can mean the difference between life and death. Fire doors are one of the most effective measures we have to prevent the spread of fire and smoke. They give people the precious time they need to evacuate safely…time that is even more critical when dealing with the intense heat and speed of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.”

No confidence

The survey revealed that only 41% are confident the fire doors in their building would contain a lithium-ion battery fire and would be more likely to leave immediately and call the fire brigade if the cause of the fire is an e-bike/e-scooter than any other cause. However, it was also shown that people underestimate how long fire doors can provide protection: just 36% believe a standard fire door offers 30 minutes of safety; 17% didn’t know at all.

Picture: Shelforce has backed Fire Door Safety Week.

www.shelforce.com

www.firedoorsafetyweek.co.uk