Announcements

This memorandum is written to increase awareness and provide information regarding fire hazards and fire prevention tips for electric scooters and bikes. Electric scooters, along with electric bikes and hoverboards, have grown in popularity in recent years. Unfortunately, this growth in popularity is accompanied by a significant increase in injuries and deaths. From 2017 to 2021 annual injuries spiked 127 percent to 77,200 for these devices, and the annual number of deaths rose from 5 to 48.1 Fires caused by the lithium-ion batteries in these devices is one of three main causes of these injuries and deaths, the other two being motor vehicles collisions and user-control issues.

Multifamily owners, management agents, and residents can do their part to help prevent electric scooter and bike related fires. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends following these guidelines:

• Always be present when charging devices using lithium-ion batteries.
• Only use the charger that came with your device.
• Only use an approved replacement battery pack.
• Follow the manufacturer's instructions for proper charging and unplug the device when done.
• Never charge while sleeping.
• Never use these devices with a battery pack that has been modified/reworked by unqualified personnel or with re-purposed or used cells.
• Never throw lithium batteries into the trash or general recycling. Instead, take them to your local battery recycler or hazardous waste collection center.

Please post the attached flyer in prominent locations in your buildings and periodically remind all staff and residents through other communications about these dangers and prevention tips