Firefighters register dozens of electric scooter fires in 2023
More blazes recorded between January and September compared to all of last year
Firefighters in Catalonia have registered around 30 fires related to electric scooters between January 1 and September 30 this year, as the Catalan newspaper, Ara, first reported, and sources of the unit later confirmed to the Catalan News Agency (ACN).
The number of fires recorded during the first nine months of the year surpasses the overall figure of 2022, when there was a total of 24 fires.
Meanwhile, in 2021, there were 21 fires, and 16 in 2020.
The unit mainly tackled incidents in the Baix Llobregat county, where eight electric scooters burned down, followed by the Vallès Occidental county, with five incidents.
The figures do not count blazes in Barcelona, as firefighters in the Catalan capital have their own unit.
Ban in public transport
The report was published days after a permanent ban on electric scooters from public transport in the Greater Barcelona area came into force.
The temporary ban, in place since February, was set to expire at the end of October, but the board of directors of the Metropolitan Transport Authority (ATM) voted to make the ban definitive.
The ATM believed there were "insufficient safeguards" regarding the safety of electric scooter batteries.
In a statement, they said that the impact of a battery igniting "can be very high," especially considering the high density of travelers at certain times.
The vote was a proposal from the group of experts that analyzed the risks of electric scooters, which were first banned after a scooter caught fire on an FGC train near Sant Boi de Llobregat station, injuring three people.