What a Vape Fire Can Teach Us About EV Battery Risks
- Mark Jones
- 15 hours ago
- 6 min read
Lithium-ion batteries are now everywhere — from vapes, mobile phones, cordless tools, to hybrid and fully electric vehicles. A recent city-centre fire in Glasgow, reportedly originating in a vape shop, highlights a growing risk that extends far beyond retail environments. For Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATFs), the incident serves as a stark reminder that the same chemistry powering electric vehicles can also drive destructive thermal runaway events if not properly managed. Understanding how these fires start, how they propagate, and how to intervene early is now a critical part of safe vehicle dismantling operations.
The Glasgow Vape Shop Fire
The recent major fire in Glasgow city centre, reportedly originating in a vape shop, follows a pattern that should serve as a wake-up call for the vehicle dismantling and recycling sectors.
Witnesses described a distinct “yo-yo” effect: the Fire Brigade would bring the blaze under control, only for it to flare up again repeatedly. This behaviour is characteristic of thermal runaway and thermal propagation — a chain reaction that prolongs fire suppression and significantly increases the resources required to control lithium-ion battery fires.
Early reports suggest that a bank of chargers was being used in the shop to recharge or top up electronic devices. It has not yet been confirmed whether these were vape devices or mobile phones, but eyewitness accounts indicate that these devices were likely the initial source of ignition. The fire quickly established itself, ultimately engulfing an entire building and affecting multiple neighbouring businesses.
The location added to the severity of the incident. The vape shop was situated next to a hotel and close to the entrance of a major train station. As a result, the station had to be closed due to public safety concerns, with rail services suspended. The wider disruption is estimated to cost tens of millions of pounds, once business interruption, property damage and infrastructure disruption are taken into account.
Thankfully, no lives were lost and no serious injuries were reported.
The Chemistry Doesn’t Care About Scale
Although a vape battery is small, it uses the same high-energy-density lithium-ion chemistry found in electric vehicles. All lithium-ion cells store a remarkable amount of energy within a very small footprint. When they become unstable, even a single cell can initiate a cascading failure.
For Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATFs), the lesson is clear: understanding how lithium-ion fires start and propagate is no longer optional.
While a vape typically contains a single cell, EV and hybrid battery packs contain hundreds or thousands of cells connected together. However, scale can also accumulate in unexpected ways. A retail shop storing hundreds of boxed single-cell vape devices may unknowingly be storing a significant concentration of lithium-ion energy within a confined space.
Legislation has not yet caught up with the pace at which lithium-ion batteries have entered everyday environments.
At present, there is no dedicated UK legislation that specifically regulates the quantity or storage arrangements of lithium-ion batteries in retail environments such as vape shops. Likewise, many ATFs operating under environmental permits granted years ago will find little or no reference to lithium-ion battery risks within those permits.
Instead, the system currently relies on a patchwork of existing frameworks:
Fire Risk Assessments
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Product Safety Regulations
Insurance conditions and risk controls
A proposed Lithium-ion Battery Safety Bill is slowly progressing through Parliament and aims to address some of these regulatory gaps. However, even if adopted, it is still some time away from becoming operational law.
In the meantime, the risks associated with lithium-ion batteries continue to grow across multiple sectors — from retail environments to vehicle dismantling facilities.
The Chain Reaction: Runaway vs Propagation
Regardless of whether we are referencing a vape shop, a mobile phone retailer, a car showroom or a recycling centre, every lithium-ion battery fire starts at the cell level.
A physical fault, damage, or an internal short circuit triggers a chemical reaction that generates its own heat. Once this process becomes self-sustaining, the cell enters thermal runaway, venting toxic gases before eventually igniting.
However, the real danger is thermal propagation. If batteries are stored in close proximity — such as stacks of vape boxes or damaged EV battery packs — the intense heat from one failing cell forces neighbouring cells to fail as well. What begins as a single point of failure can rapidly escalate into a large-scale incident affecting an entire building.
This cascading effect is likely what turned a small ignition source into the major building fire seen in Glasgow.
Lithium-Ion Fires Leave No Time for Intervention
Lithium-ion battery failures often provide little meaningful warning. In many cases the first visible sign is already the start of ignition, which means operators cannot rely on intervention. The only dependable protection is segregation and containment that prevents a single failing battery from spreading to others.
Research shows that lithium-ion batteries begin to off-gas when defective or damaged — and always before ignition. All lithium-ion cells generate hydrogen during venting, irrespective of State of Charge. During this stage, amounts of hydrogen and other vapours are released as internal cell temperatures begin to rise.
Detecting these early chemical and thermal signals may provide valuable time for automated fire suppression systems to activate, but it rarely provides a safe opportunity for human intervention before a dangerous thermal event begins.
ATF operators should instead take advantage of one major benefit they often have over a city-centre retail environment: space.
Damaged or defective batteries should be sufficiently segregated from structures, vehicles and personnel wherever possible. Space was not something available to the vape shop involved in the Glasgow incident. However, if an ATF operator has an area of yard that can be designated for defective batteries and kept well away from other structures, it should be used.
What must never happen is the uncontrolled stacking of damaged EV batteries. Doing so creates the perfect conditions for thermal propagation — allowing a fire in one battery pack to spread rapidly to adjacent packs as heat transfers between them.
Not every facility has the benefit of open space. In those cases, engineered containment solutions must be considered.
Fire-Safe Storage
Damaged or defective batteries should be stored in specialist fire-rated containers designed for EV battery storage.
These systems typically include:
Ventilation or thermal management
Fire resistance and detection
Fire alarm integration
Fire Suppression system
Blast relief panel (typically in the roof)
ATEX-rated electrics
Electrolyte spill containment
Sealed drainage
Gas detection - Hydrogen sensors with a detection limit below 100ppm mounted high within the enclosure typically provide earliest detection of thermal runaway.
By implementing containment and segregation strategies, ATFs move from being reactive to proactive, effectively breaking the chain of thermal propagation before it begins.
The Hidden Threat: Beyond the HV Battery
While the high-voltage battery is the primary focus, ATFs must also consider smaller lithium-ion devices inside vehicles.
Mobile phones, laptops, tablets and disposable vapes are frequently left inside vehicles by previous owners. These items are often hidden in door pockets, glove boxes or centre consoles.
If a vehicle has been involved in a collision, these smaller devices may also be internally damaged.
A single crushed vape under a seat can initiate a fire that eventually involves the entire vehicle and its HV battery pack.
For this reason, vehicles should always be searched for consumer electronics during the intake process. Any device containing a lithium battery should be removed and placed into a dedicated battery disposal container.
Summary
The Glasgow fire demonstrates a simple but important reality: lithium-ion risk does not scale in a predictable way. The same chemistry found inside a disposable vape is also found inside a 400-volt EV battery pack. When conditions allow thermal runaway and propagation to occur, the consequences can escalate rapidly regardless of where the battery is located. For Authorised Treatment Facilities preparing for the continued growth of electric vehicles, managing lithium-ion risk must begin long before the battery is removed from the car. It starts the moment the vehicle arrives at the gate.
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