Etobicoke shelter highrise fire involved lithium-ion batteries that were charging

A two-alarm fire that broke out at a city-run shelter highrise in Etobicoke early Wednesday morning involved lithium-ion batteries that were charging, officials said.

Toronto Fire Services Platoon Chief Peter Rappos said crews were called to 2180 Islington Ave. at 5:30 a.m. for reports of heavy smoke.

Firefighters encountered smoke on the seventh floor, Rappos said, and with the help of the building’s sprinkler system, crews extinguished the fire shortly after.

No injuries were reported, but Rappos noted that one person was transported to the hospital with unrelated injuries.

TFS Chief Jim Jessop told CP24 that the fire involved lithium-ion batteries that were charging. In a video he posted on social media, it shows burnt batteries.

Rappos later confirmed that a quantity of lithium-ion batteries was removed from the unit, although the cause and circumstances of the fire are still unknown.

Wednesday’s fire is the second reported incident in the last 24 hours related to a lithium-ion battery.

Four people, including two children, were taken to the hospital on Tuesday morning following a highrise fire in St. James Town. TFS said e-bikes were on the balcony of the unit of origin, and lithium-ion batteries were inside.

76 incidents involving batteries so far

Rappos shared on Wednesday that there have been 76 fire incidents involving lithium-ion batteries this year, reflecting a 35 per cent increase from 2025. Rappos said two have died and 14 have been injured in connection with those incidents.

“While lithium-ion batteries are generally safe, improper disposal and storage of these units, charging of these units can cause incidents,” the platoon chief said.

“Right now, it doesn’t appear that there is a bigger increase in the summer or the wintertime, but there are different factors that again can cause batteries to go into a thermal runaway. One of them could be improper charging. Some of it could be storage outside of hot and cold cycles. Improper tampering of the batteries—that’s a big concern for us—is that people don’t tamper with their batteries as well.”

Chief Jessop has been sounding the alarm about the rise of lithium-ion battery fires in the city, which appears to be on track to have at least 100 incidents this year.

That would be a nearly 250 per cent increase from 2022, when TFS responded to only 29 lithium-ion battery fires.

Jessop have said fire service investigations have found the primary reason the lithium-ion batteries go into thermal runaway, a phenomenon which results in a fire, is because they are “not required to meet a standard or a regulation, unlike your cell phone batteries or your laptop batteries.”

The chief urged residents to only choose certified batteries, charges, e-bikes, and scooters and never charge them near an exit or sleeping areas.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Joshua McGinnis