Lithium ion batteries can catch fire, officials warn
Fire departments and safety officials in Butler County are warning homeowners to be careful using lithium ion batteries after an increase in lithium ion battery-related fires in recent months.
After a fire that was sparked by a lithium ion battery charger damaged a detached garage during the weekend in Evans City, Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company and Harmony Fire District posted warnings on Facebook advising residents to be aware of the potential dangers associated with the rechargeable batteries.
“These types of fires have been increasing in frequency and likely will continue,” the Harmony Fire District warning read. “Please ensure when charging your devices you are present and monitor them — a fire such as this can happen in a moment’s notice without warning!”
The Cranberry Fire warning described common signs of damaged batteries, including battery swelling, odor, smoke, a hissing or crackling sound, and being extremely hot to the touch.
Harmony Fire District chief Scott Garing explained that lithium ion batteries can suddenly catch fire, especially if they are damaged or defective.
“Something can happen where they can short circuit and malfunction, they overcharge or don’t charge appropriately, and burn up,” he said. “Whenever that happens, the best way to stop it is to unplug it. And if you can safely do so, move it outside the building it is in and leave it outside. Those batteries themselves can do what’s called ‘thermal runaway,’ and hours later they can continue to heat up and burn.”
Lithium ion battery fires can happen with a variety of devices, Garing said.
“Anything from a cellphone to a computer battery to a power tool to any type of electronic device a kid plays on, you have to be cautious,” he said. “I urge people not to charge them when you’re not there to monitor it. Once they’re charged, unplug them and take them off the source.”
Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company chief Christopher Dean said that while his service area has not seen recent incidents with lithium ion batteries, the batteries can pose a danger if left on a charger.
“After they are charged, they need to be removed from the chargers. It could be a fire hazard,” he said. “It could continue to supply a charge to the battery and start a fire.”
Dean recommended keeping lithium ion batteries in a “safe place” — a steel box or container, for instance — and advised people not to leave them on a bookshelf.
“Everything now is starting to go to some sort of lithium battery, because it holds a charge better,” he said.
Steve Bicehouse, director of Butler County Emergency Services, said the increase in lithium ion battery fires may be connected to the increase in usage of lithium ion batteries in technology, from laptops to electric cars to remote control cars.
“I don’t know if there’s been more of them, or (it’s) because there are more battery-powered devices out there than ever before,” he said. “There’s just more and more things that are electric powered. If you correlate that with (there being) more devices out there, there’s (an increased) chance that you’re going to have an issue with charging.”
The fire over the weekend was lucky, Bicehouse said.
“Luckily it was during the daylight, and someone was home and saw it,” he said. “If no one had been home, chances are that garage would have burned down.”
Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company firefighter Alex Helper said fire crews usually find out the cause of the fire after a fire has been extinguished.
“Typically afterward, though there are times when we are there and we can obviously see what happened, but typically we talk afterward and one of our chiefs will get information after the fact,” he said.
Hepler said he hasn’t been to a lithium battery fire recently, but added that certain types of fires are more common in certain seasons. Winter, for instance, means more chimney fires as people use their fireplaces more often.
“As it’s getting drier out, we’re going to be focusing on brush fires,” he said.
