GRIFFIN, Ga. — In less than two minutes, a fast-moving fire that started with a lithium-ion battery filled Jody Burgoyne’s home with smoke and flames.
“I screamed and just threw the fire extinguisher and ran,” Jody Burgoyne recalled. “I knew it was bigger than what I could handle.”
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A Ring camera caught the frantic seconds after Burgoyne’s sons heard a boom, and she scrambled to get her children and family pets out of the Utah house.
Firefighters later told Burgoyne the failure of a lithium-ion battery charger for a scooter started the fire.
“It’s like, before you buy something, you’re gonna have to think, hmm, I could possibly lose everything, including a child, but is it worth having this scooter for? I don’t think so,” Burgoyne told Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray.
Lithium-ion batteries now power everything from scooters to smoke detectors.
But a recent survey by Erie Insurance found one in four Americans don’t even know what lithium-ion batteries are — despite their growing presence in everyday devices, including flashlights, phones and laptops.
Fire officials warn these batteries can ignite without a spark or open flame, creating fast-moving fires that are difficult to extinguish.
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“It’s become a problem fast, one no one really thought would happen,” said Griffin Fire Chief John Hamilton.
A problem for Griffin at a place, where fire dangers have never been a serious concern, the landfill. Hamilton says they now deal with fires there almost daily.
The fires can burn undetected for hours beneath layers of trash. Fire trucks can’t reach them easily, and water alone often isn’t enough to extinguish them.
“I don’t have enough firefighters or fire engines in this county to put out one of these fires,” Hamilton said.
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In a 2021 Channel 2 Action News Investigation, we reported on the new firefighting challenges posed by car fires in electric vehicles. Where a standard car fire can typically be put out with one-truck load of water, about 500 gallons, firefighters say they had to use 28,000 gallons to extinguish an EV fire. The equivalent of 56 fire trucks worth.
Even much smaller batteries — the kind found in power tools or e-bikes — can create similar fires.
“With water, we can’t really control it,” Hamilton said. “All we can do is confine it until they can get the dozers and dirt in.”
Hamilton says the solution starts with education.
Griffin fire stations have added drop boxes where residents can safely dispose of lithium batteries. Many major retailers, including home improvement stores, big box retailers also offer drop boxes.
“We won’t charge you to get rid of that, just come drop it in the box,” said Griffin City Manager Jessica O’Connor.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends the following safety steps:
- Only use the charger that came with your device.
- Do not toss lithium batteries in the trash.
- Look for a “listed” battery, meaning it has been certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory and is stamped accordingly.
“You always think, ‘That’s not going to happen to me,’” Burgoyne said. “But it can.”
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