FireBull AB Sets a New Standard for Lithium-Ion Fire Safety Implications for Industry and Liability
In October 2025, FireBull AB achieved a landmark certification for extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires, becoming the first fluorine-free firefighting foam proven to combat this emerging hazard. This certification – to the rigorous Dutch NTA 8133 standard – demonstrates that FireBull AB, used with the Enforcer Air 3 system, can safely and rapidly suppress lithium battery fires.
In an era of exploding battery use, from electric vehicles to energy storage, this breakthrough carries far-reaching benefits and raises the bar for fire safety expectations across industries. It also has significant implications for insurance and legal liability: now that a proven solution exists, failing to use it could invite lawsuits or even criminal charges.
Below, we explore why lithium battery fires are so challenging, how FireBull AB’s certification changes the landscape, and what positives (and negatives) businesses must weigh in adopting this new technology.
Lithium-Ion Battery Fires: A Growing and Costly Hazard
Lithium-ion batteries power everything from smartphones and e-bikes to electric cars and grid storage -and fires involving these batteries have surged with sometimes deadly consequences.
In New York City alone, 92 lithium battery fires injured 64 people and killed 9 in 2023, a sharp rise in fatalities. Globally, high-profile incidents underscore the danger: for example, a South Korean factory blast in June 2023 killed 22 workers due to exploding Li-ion batteries. Fire authorities warn that e-bike and e-scooter fires are “the fastest growing fire risk” in cities like London.
These fires are driven by thermal runaway – a self-fuelling heat surge that’s extremely difficult to extinguish once it begins, often requiring thousands of litres of water or special tactics to control. Traditional methods can struggle: water alone cools but doesn’t always stop re-ignition, and many fire services have resorted to letting EV fires burn out in controlled areas, which is obviously costly and time-consuming.
The stakes are high: a runaway battery fire in a facility or forecourt can cause massive damage, toxic smoke, and business disruption, not to mention injury or loss of life. With lithium batteries now ubiquitous -in cars, warehouse equipment, home electronics, and even at petrol station charging points -every stakeholder from manufacturers to retailers faces this fire risk.
FireBull AB’s NTA 8133 Certification: A Game-Changer for Battery Fire Suppression
Enter FireBull AB -a fluorine-free (PFAS-free) foam concentrate developed by Enforcer One and distributed by Frontline Innovations -which has now proven its prowess in extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires under the toughest test conditions.
The NTA 8133 standard, created by Dutch safety authorities, simulates a thermal runaway in a battery pack (six 100 wh cells) and demands that an extinguisher:
- Knock down the flames within 3 minutes. FireBull AB far surpassed this, snuffing out the battery flames in just 16–20 seconds in each trial. The Enforcer Air 3 CAFS unit then automatically kept spraying for an extra 40 seconds to rapidly cool the cells and prevent any rekindle. This is critical -lithium fires often reignite if not cooled well, but FireBull AB created a thermal shock that halted the runaway.
- Prevent re-ignition for at least 20 minutes. FireBull’s performance ensured no re-flash occurred in the critical 20-minute monitoring period after knockdown. The fire was truly out, not just temporarily suppressed. In fact, testers observed that the foam’s effect continued to absorb heat and control vapours long after the flames were extinguished, addressing a common failing of water or standard foam which might only delay re-ignition.
- Save a portion of the battery. The standard ingeniously requires that at least one cell in the battery pack remains intact (3.7V) after the fire -proving the fire was controlled without destroying everything. FireBull AB passed easily, preserving multiple cells. In one test it saved two cell modules, and in a second test it preserved three modules intact. This means the foam not only stops the fire but limits damage to surrounding cells and equipment, a huge advantage for facilities that want to salvage hardware and forensic evidence after an incident.
Passing NTA 8133 is no small feat – it’s considered “the toughest lithium-ion battery fire test” in the industry.
FireBull AB’s success here demonstrates exceptional firefighting performance under strict conditions (packs up to 600 Wh), giving confidence to fire departments and safety engineers. It effectively establishes FireBull AB as one of the first validated solutions for lithium battery fires worldwide.
For end-users (from EV manufacturers to warehouse operators), this means a vetted tool now exists to tackle battery fires swiftly, where before one could only hope to contain such fires.
How FireBull AB Works: Rapid Cooling without PFAS
Why is FireBull AB so effective on lithium battery fires?
The key lies in its unique cooling and oxygen-blocking formulation. Unlike legacy foams or plain water, FireBull AB is a high-energy compressed air foam that penetrates deep into the heat source.
According to Enforcer One, its formula delivers advanced heat absorption: it **cools battery cells and surrounding materials almost instantly, which is crucial in halting thermal runaway. By quenching the heat, FireBull AB achieves true extinguishment rather than a temporary pause, whereas water can boil off and standard foams might insulate flames without lowering core temperatures. This superior cooling action is a game-changer – it directly addresses the extreme temperatures of a lithium fire, removing the heat component of the fire triangle fast.
Equally important, FireBull AB is a 100% fluorine-free foam, containing no PFAS “forever chemicals” at all. Traditional AFFF foams relied on PFAS to create a film on fuel fires, but those chemicals linger indefinitely in the environment and are linked to serious health issues. FireBull AB, by contrast, uses a next-generation surfactant blend that is non-toxic and biodegradable, yet still forms an effective blanket over burning battery electrolytes and prevents flammable vapours from escaping. It leaves no persistent chemical residue and needs no special hazmat cleanup, unlike PFAS foams which can require costly decontamination of water and soil. This means after a FireBull deployment, a facility isn’t left with an environmental mess -a critical factor as PFAS-based foams are increasingly banned or restricted worldwide (the U.S. military and EU are phasing out AFFF by 2025).
From an operations standpoint, FireBull AB is versatile and efficient. It has multi-class fire ratings -not just for lithium and Class D, but also Class A (solids), B (flammable liquids), C (gases) and even K (grease fires) -meaning one foam can tackle various fire scenarios. It works at low concentrations (as little as 0.25%), so a small amount of concentrate makes a large volume of finished foam. This translates to less storage needed and longer run-times from a given tank size. FireBull AB’s compatibility with standard firefighting hardware (sprinkler systems, trucks, and the portable Enforcer CAFS units) makes adoption easy – no expensive new infrastructure is required to switch over.
Benefits of Using FireBull AB – and Risks of Not Using It
Adopting FireBull AB or similar fluorine-free lithium-fire solutions brings a host of safety, financial, and reputational benefits:
- Protecting Lives and Assets: The foremost benefit is better protection of people and property. A FireBull-equipped extinguisher or system can stop a battery fire in seconds, which could prevent a small incident from escalating to a facility-engulfing blaze. For example, fire services now have a verified tool for EV fires; instead of watching a burning electric car for hours, they could knock it down quickly. In battery manufacturing plants or warehouses full of devices, FireBull AB can be the difference between a single charred battery module and an entire building lost to flames. This is especially relevant to battery makers, electronics warehouses, EV charging stations, and even petrol station forecourts that install high-power chargers. They all face “what if” scenarios of a battery igniting on site. With FireBull AB on hand, those scenarios are far less likely to become catastrophic.
- Minimizing Downtime and Damage: Beyond extinguishment, FireBull AB’s cooling and vapor-sealing action means less collateral damage. It can confine a fire to the device of origin and reduce toxic smoke spread. For instance, in testing it preserved intact cells, implying that in a real-world event, equipment might be salvageable after the fire is out. Contrast this with using only water: the Moss Landing battery farm fire in California (Jan 2025) had to be fought with an “outdated water suppression system” which failed to fully extinguish the blaze, leading to a multi-day disaster, complete power plant shutdown, and toxic runoff. A lawsuit by the local community now alleges the operators’ “failure to implement adequate fire safety measures” (among them, relying on water alone) contributed to the severity of that fire. The clear lesson is that **not having modern suppression tools can vastly increase fire damage -and subsequent legal damages.
- Environmental and Health Protection: Using FireBull AB also helps companies avoid causing the next environmental crisis. The PFAS chemicals in old foams have already led to billions of dollars in cleanup costs and legal settlements due to contaminated groundwater. (In 2023, chemical giant 3M agreed to a $10.3 billion settlement for contaminating U.S. water supplies with AFFF foam runoff.) By switching to PFAS-free foam, firms eliminate that contamination risk at the source. FireBull AB is GreenScreen-certified as non-hazardous, and tests show its runoff biodegrades readily. This not only safeguards firefighters and nearby communities, but it can also lower a company’s environmental liability and cleanup costs should a fire occur. In fact, some users have even seen lower insurance premiums after transitioning to fluorine-free foam, thanks to the reduced environmental risk.
- Regulatory Compliance and Futureproofing: Regulations are fast mandating the phase-out of fluorinated foams. By adopting FireBull AB, organizations are ahead of compliance curves -avoiding bans, fines, or forced retrofits later. Moreover, having a lithium-fire response plan (with proper extinguishers) is increasingly expected in safety codes. Using a certified solution like FireBull AB signals diligence to regulators, possibly smoothing permits or insurance underwriting. Insurers, in particular, are taking note: Insurers in particular are taking note. For example, Nationwide already offers a 20 % discount on EnforcerOne/FireBull AB systems for eligible agribusiness clients. This suggests that fire mitigation involving fluorine-free certified foam systems is increasingly seen as a risk-reduction measure.
On the flip side, the negatives of not using an available solution like FireBull AB are increasingly stark. Companies that ignore this advance could face:
- Higher Fire Losses and Insurance Costs: If a lithium battery fire breaks out and you lack the proper foam or extinguishers to fight it, the resulting loss could be exponentially worse. Insurers could deem the incident preventable. It’s not far-fetched to imagine underwriters denying claims or raising rates if a company chose not to install known safety measures. As an insurance risk advisory noted, businesses must prepare for “large-scale incidents arising from Li-ion accidents” in facilities or transit, and those who proactively mitigate risks will fare better with insurers. Simply put, not having FireBull AB or an equivalent could brand a site as a higher risk, with insurance penalties to match.
- Lawsuits and Legal Liability: In the event of a fire that causes harm, victims and authorities will look at whether the company took reasonable precautions. Now that a certified, safer foam exists, failing to use it might be seen as negligence. Legal experts already point out that in fire litigation, there are established “yardsticks for negligence” based on industry codes and available technology. If your peers adopt lithium-fire foams and you don’t, that’s a red flag. We’re likely to see class action lawsuits in the aftermath of battery fires, where plaintiffs argue that companies “knew or should have known” about better fire suppression options. The Moss Landing case is a prime example: residents are suing the battery facility operators for not upgrading their fire system, alleging this lapse contributed directly to the disaster. Beyond civil suits, there’s also the spectre of corporate manslaughter charges if employees or customers are killed due to what prosecutors deem gross safety failures. Modern corporate manslaughter laws (such as in the UK) were designed to hold companies accountable for “very serious failings resulting in death” where management ignored known hazards. Imagine a scenario: a delivery warehouse storing e-bike batteries burns, an employee dies, and it emerges the company declined to install available lithium fire extinguishers. That could quickly move from negligence to a criminal inquiry. No executive wants to be in that position, especially when a relatively affordable solution was readily available.
A New Safety Mandate for the Lithium-Ion Era
The certification of FireBull AB to NTA 8133 is more than just a product milestone – it’s a wake-up call and an opportunity.
On one hand, it proves that yes, lithium-ion battery fires can be tamed quickly and safely, with the right tools. This should bring relief to many sectors anxious about the risks hiding in their battery-powered operations. The foam’s success offers a clear path to dramatically improved fire response: fast extinguishment, no toxic chemicals, and broad applicability to many fire types. The benefits -from saving lives to avoiding multi-million-dollar losses -are too significant to ignore.
On the other hand, knowledge of this capability sets a new benchmark for duty of care. Industries that deal with lithium batteries must recognize that continuing with “business as usual” (e.g. relying on water or clinging to old PFAS foams) is no longer defensible.
Insurance companies are already encouraging the switch to advanced foams, and it’s likely that codes and standards will soon incorporate lithium battery fire planning as a requirement.
Forward-looking companies are acting now: equipping their sites with FireBull AB and similar foams, training staff in their use, and updating emergency plans. These organizations won’t just sleep easier at night -they’ll also have a powerful defence if a fire does occur: they took every reasonable step with the best available technology.
In contrast, those who delay may find themselves on the wrong side of insurance assessments, public opinion, or courtroom judgments. The cost of inaction could be measured in destroyed facilities, environmental cleanup bills, shareholder lawsuits, or even criminal penalties, especially if lives are lost. It’s a cliché, but true: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” FireBull AB now offers that prevention for the unique menace of lithium fires.
In conclusion, any entity handling lithium-ion batteries -whether an EV manufacturer, a battery storage farm, a retail distributor, or a petrol station with charging kiosks – should treat this innovation as a new safety mandate. The technology to drastically reduce lithium fire damage exists and is certified. Using it can save lives and money; not using it invites unnecessary risk. As FireBull AB’s deployment grows, we may well see it become the industry standard for lithium fire protection. Those who adopt it early will not only better protect their people and assets, but they’ll also set themselves apart as leaders in safety and sustainability. In an age of lithium-ion, proactive fire defence is no longer optional – it’s a responsibility.
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Lithium-ion battery fires are driven by thermal runaway, which is a rapid internal heating process that feeds itself. Once it begins, the battery can continue to release heat and flammable gases even after flames appear to stop. This is why water and standard foams often fail to prevent re-ignition.
FireBull AB cools the battery cells quickly and deeply enough to stop thermal runaway. It also forms a stable layer that reduces vapor release. This means it addresses the source of the reaction rather than only suppressing visible flames.
NTA 8133 is considered one of the most rigorous tests for lithium-ion battery fire suppression. Passing it confirms that a product can extinguish the fire, prevent re-ignition, and preserve some cell integrity. FireBull AB exceeded these requirements in testing.
Yes. FireBull AB is completely fluorine free and contains no PFAS chemicals. It avoids the long-term contamination risks linked to older firefighting foams and does not require special hazardous cleanup procedures after use.
Yes. FireBull AB works with a range of existing systems including compressed air foam units, portable extinguishers, vehicle-mounted systems and fixed suppression setups. Facilities do not need to install new hardware to adopt it.
Any organization that handles, stores, charges or transports lithium-ion batteries should evaluate it. This includes electric vehicle service centers, warehouses, logistics hubs, battery manufacturing sites, data centers, energy storage facilities and gas stations with charging points.