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A faulty electric bike battery was the origin of a fire at Battery Boys/Bolt Mobile in Saskatoon that caused an estimated $1.5 million damage over the weekend.
Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD) said in a news release on Monday that a fire investigator found the blaze began in a battery testing room where the e-bike was located before spreading to the rest of the building at 710 Circle Drive East.
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Firefighters worked all through Friday night to control the fire, which was reported just after 10 p.m. SFD said it wasn’t under control until around 2:20 p.m. on Saturday.
Dwayne Jobson, acting deputy chief of operations for the Saskatoon Fire Department, told CKOM News on Saturday that it was not out of the ordinary for a large structure fire to keep crews working for more than 12 hours.
Jobson said part of the reason the blaze took so long to extinguish was because firefighters couldn’t get into the building, making it hard to find and extinguish hot spots.
SFD said a track-hoe was brought in on Saturday to knock holes through the walls and allow water to be poured inside.
Bolt Mobile has three other locations in Saskatoon, and marketing manager, Kevin Kindrachuk, said on Saturday the business still wants to have four, and will look for temporary premises in the north end after the building was extensively damaged.
Lithium-ion batteries — which are found in everything from electric bikes, smartphones, headphones and tablets to video game controllers, e-cigarettes and power tools — are increasingly being found to be causing fires.
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says the batteries store a large amount of energy in a small space, and improper use such as overcharging, using off-brand chargers without safety certification, or exposing batteries to damage can result in a fire or explosion.
In 2025, SFD’s Fire Prevention Week campaign centred around minimizing the risk from lithium-ion batteries.
Fire marshal Ryan Bradley’s advice included avoiding overcharging batteries and unplugging or removing the batteries from devices when they are fully charged.
He also advised people to charge devices on a hard surface – not under a pillow, on a bed or on a couch – buy devices listed by a qualified testing laboratory and to remove a device if a battery feels hot.
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