A major fire in a building next to Glasgow Central station on 8 March – which forced the closure of Scotland’s busiest railway hub – has put the spotlight once again on longstanding concerns about the safety of lithium-ion batteries.
More than 200 firefighters1 battled the blaze which appeared to begin on a small scale at 3.45pm on Sunday, in a ground floor vape shop in the five-storey structure.2
Built in 1851, the B-listed Victorian commercial building forms part of the block that borders the concourse of the station.
An eyewitness reported entering the shop and seeing, in the BBC’s account, “an adapter charging system – full of chargers – under the counter and a small fire.” While the wording is imprecise, it appears to describe a multi-socket extension strip with numerous USB chargers connected, likely used to charge vape devices.
After leaving the shop he returned with a fire extinguisher. In video footage circulating on X he can be seen discharging it into the doorway from the pavement before being pulled away by bystanders moments before an explosion occurs inside.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the fire.
Vape shops contain several potential fire hazards, including lithium-ion batteries used in devices and chargers, as well as combustible liquids and packaging materials. While the liquids themselves (“e-liquids” such as propylene glycol and vegetable glycerine) are not easily ignited, a battery failure can generate enough heat to ignite surrounding products and allow a fire to spread rapidly.
Prof Guillermo Rein, Professor of Fire Science and Director of Research, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, has published comments voicing concern about the potential role of the many lithium-ion batteries that it’s believed were stored in the shop where the fire began.
“That must now be examined carefully by the investigation. If batteries were materially involved, this may not have been a conventional shop fire.
“Lithium-ion battery fires tend to be unusually resistant to suppression, because they are designed to be protected from water, but generate intense heat, reignite, and in large numbers can result [in] fire conditions that are difficult to bring under control. That could help explain why even a highly trained and well-equipped force like the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service faced such difficulty in suppressing the initial fire.”
The scale of the devastation, however, he felt pointed to “failures across multiple layers of protection, including prevention, early detection, compartmentation, suppression, and structural resistance.”
“The contributing factors should not be reduced to the ignition source or to the actions of a few individuals.”
What causes batteries to catch fire?
Much of the potential for mishap with lithium-ion batteries stems from the same property that makes them useful: their ability to store large amounts of energy in a small space. The electrochemically reactive materials inside the cells can become unstable, if damaged or improperly charged, potentially leading to overheating, fire, or “thermal runaway”.
Thermal runaway can lead to ignition and the release of toxic and flammable gases. These emissions include volatile organic compounds from the electrolyte, as well as gases such as hydrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrogen fluoride. Some of these vapours are themselves flammable, which can contribute to the rapid escalation and persistence of battery fires.
Typical reasons for lithium-ion batteries catching fire include crushing (i.e., in recycling facilities or bin lorries), heating, overcharging, or as a result of defects introduced at the manufacturing stage, explains Paul Christensen, Professor Emeritus of Electrochemistry at Newcastle University and director of Lithiumionsafety Ltd, who has also published remarks in the aftermath of the fire.
Faulty design has been a factor in lithium-ion battery failures in the past, including the 2016 recall of around 2.5 million mobile phones that were prone to overheating and catching fire. The problem was traced to a battery configuration that left insufficient space to safely accommodate the electrodes, allowing internal short circuits that could trigger thermal runaway.3
Improper charging and the use of poorly manufactured devices is also a point of vulnerability. Efforts to make a workplace safe have to contend with employees buying chargers off the internet, which might be loosely specified.
Proper handling is key
Professor Paul Christensen said: “I am not trying to demonise lithium-ion batteries – I am a BIG fan.
“BUT they have penetrated all levels of society and, in my opinion, have done so faster than we have understood the risks and hazards.”
He went on to add: “There also appears to be a reluctance at Government level to accept the risks and hazards of these devices, much less to address them.
“Whether or not these batteries were the cause of the initial fire in this case, we need to have lithium-ion battery-specific risk assessments for any building with appreciable stored energy density – either large lithium-ion batteries or lots of small lithium-ion batteries,” he said.
Guidance on the safe storage of large numbers of lithium-ion batteries in commercial settings generally consists of a series of straightforward precautionary measures. These remain advisory guidelines rather than statutory requirements.
Examples include ensuring that batteries are removed from equipment when not in use, and stored in a fire-resistant container such as a steel battery storage box.
Crushing or mechanical mishandling of lithium batteries is another known hazard. It has been linked to a steadily rising number of fires in waste management facilities across Europe in recent years, with individual incidents causing millions of euros in damage despite the presence of sophisticated fire-prevention systems.
As investigations continue, the incident is likely to intensify calls for clearer guidance and regulation on the storage and charging of lithium-ion batteries in commercial premises.
Notes
[1] “Preliminary multi-agency investigation into the cause of the Union Street fire in Glasgow is underway”, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service, 9 March 2026.
[2] “Glasgow Fire: What we know so far”, BBC, 10 March 2026.
[3] “Li-ion battery risks reduced by VOC sensors”, Envirotec, October 2023.
