A mother has warned others after a fire caused by a lithium-ion battery broke out in her home.
Jody Burgoyne admitted in an interview with local Atlanta, Georgia news station, WSB-TV, that she was in such a panicked state when the fire started, she “screamed and just threw the fire extinguisher and ran.”
“I knew it was bigger than what I could handle,” she told the outlet.
After rushing to get both her children and pets out of the family’s Utah home, firefighters told Burgoyne that the fire had been started by a lithium-ion battery charger for a scooter.
“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,” she said. “You always think, ‘That’s not going to happen to me,’ but it can.”
The presence of lithium-ion batteries has grown over the last few years as they are used to power various items including laptops, cell phones, and hybrid and electric cars.
However, smaller batteries like those used in power tools or e-bikes can also create challenging fires that require more than water to extinguish.
According to Fire Chief John Hamilton of Griffin, Georgia, the best way to avoid fires that could be caused by a lithium-ion battery is to keep the general public educated. One solution he’s implemented is adding boxes outside of fire stations for Griffin residents to properly dispose of batteries. Major retailers also offer similar drop-off boxes.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends that people only use the designated charger that came with their device, do not throw lithium batteries in the trash, and look for a “listed” battery, meaning it has been certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory and is stamped accordingly.
This isn’t the first incident caused by a lithium-ion battery. On Monday morning, a Delta flight traveling from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale was diverted to Fort Myers after a lithium battery exploded inside a passenger’s bag.
Flight 1334, carrying 191 people, declared an emergency around 8:30 a.m. after smoke entered the cabin. Delta said flight attendants extinguished a personal device and diverted the flight as a precaution.
“The backpack has been contained. We think it was a lithium battery that caused the smoke and the fire,” the pilot radioed to firefighters on the ground at the Fort Myers airport, according to a recording by LiveATC.net per CNN. “It’s in a containment bag. No smoke in the cabin at this point. No active fire.”
