Examples of Lithium Battery Fires

Lithium battery fires are becoming more common every day as more and more devices contain them. Here are some examples of fires which have occurred in a range of devices from mobile phones to electric vehicles.

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[astropioneer]

Interesting video. I wish it had talked about how to prevent lithium battery fires, or what one should do if a lithium battery fire starts.

[crazygta]

Around 10-15 years ago, there was a ups cargo plane that was caring lithium ion batteries in bulk. A fire broke out that was severe enough to crash the plane and kill both pilots. That was one of the reasons why you can’t carry a phone or a laptop in your check bag. The flight was UPS flight 006 if anyone is interested

[fsysjzb]

I am so pleased this channel exists! I am a forensic fire investigator in America. I truly appreciate that you are sharing information that will assist in life safety efforts.

[neilreid]

Had a lithium cell phone battery catch fire on my work bench. Surprised at how ferocious it was- you can't put them out although they only burn for about 15 seconds. Be really careful replacing batteries in cell phones etc- if you pierce the foil outer layer, they instantly shoot a jet of flames. Been there, done that.

[imjody]

My goodness, the e-bike in the elevator, seeing the door close as the bike explodes, that is just a thing of nightmares.

[Supercon]

1:52
That is a terrifying scenario
Everyone is stuck in that elevator while it erupted in smoke and flames

[dwmwat]

Haven't seen this mentioned but to buy a few minutes if your phone does burst into flames, a metal garbage can or even just a nearby cooking pot or baking sheet can help to contain the flames and reduce fire spread, if you're trying to contain the fire. Never a bad idea to have one metal garbage pail around an office when everyone else has plastic ones. Hopefully it's obvious that you want to be careful of electrodes and metal battery contacts around a metal bucket, but if the thing's on fire, it's way past worrying about shorting out (and some sort of metal lid is good too if available). My work colleague's brand-x phone flared up at our work and burned fast and furious for at least 5 minutes but very fortunately our floors had some really robust carpeting (now with a nice black spot but fortunately no other damage to the building - sprinkler didn't even go off, thankfully in this case as no other damage occurred but we were very fortunate). New battery technologies are in various stages of development but in the meantime the advice I hear is to buy quality name-brand equipment (phones, e-bikes, ...) with robust overcharge protection and never leave them charging overnight or in a place where they can spread fire. Unfortunately lots of folks don't have much choice with e-bikes in places like apartment buildings. (Personally I'm not in a rush to buy an e-bike for exactly this sort of reason.)

[stargazeronesixseven]

Great reminder to buy original certified safe batteries & only charge them on non flammable surfaces & when supervised by someone & avoid changing battery over night or when no one is around to notice the over heating that caused fires! Thank You So Much FireChief for this Reminder Tutorial! 🕯🌏

[MeteoricStoneofShatteredSouls]

As literally 90%+ of us watch on a device with a lithium battery.

[penitent]

months ago there was a woman who went on social media and news complaining an airline discriminated against her for not allowing her to take her electric wheelchair on the flight, she turned up to the flight without notifying or declaring her wheelchair and was told she could not take it on, they offered her a regular non-electric one for the flight. She was some kind of Paralympics athlete and managed to get quiet a lot of supporters. The company keep trying to tell them that's the law with such large lithium batteries in her wheelchair, fell on deaf ears with those snow flakes.

[justsumguyu]

A long time ago I worked at a vacuum cleaner manufacturing plant. Part of their business was making cordless vacs that ran on lithium batteries. They would also get these returned from stores....we would tear them down, and then someone would throw the batteries into the trash compactor, which emptied out into a dumpster. About once a month, there would be a dumpster fire from lithium batteries exploding after being compacted. Totally unsafe, even by 1990's standards

[Biffo]

The use of a water spray may not actually extinguish the battery but it WILL subdue any secondary fires. Just ensure that if you do fight a fire you secure an escape route and raise the alarm to alert other occupants so they can evacuate and the fire service is called. If your situation becomes untenable or you do not feel competent to fight the fire then evacuate, ensuring all other occupants have left too, closing all doors behind you.

[BobBobOnYouTube]

This happened to me with a Samsung Galaxy phone. It was charging then grey smoke started pouring out of it. Luckily I managed to unplug it before it burst into flames. In the days running up to the explosion, the phone was doing weird things like the battery would have 40% charge one minute. The next, it would turn off because the battery was empty. Months prior to this, I would get notifications telling me that the battery had deteriorated and I should have it replaced. I ignored those notifications, multiple times. If your Samsung phone is telling you the same thing, get a new battery.

[haralamc]

This is why at the end of the day I always take out my laptop battery and put it under my mother in law's pillow.

[nichouslip]

A very thought provoking video that all users of Lithium powered devices should watch. Never leave a device charging indoors unattended, never leave a device that is charging on a bed or sofa. A downside comment to the excellent video: All Secondary [i.e. rechargeable] batteries have a wear out mechanism that is not "built in obsolescence". It is an inherent property of the chemical reactions involved in in storing energy "chemically" and although cell manufacturers do their utmost to minimise it, it cannot be ignored. Using the term built in obsolescence implies that the manufacturer included it in order to sell more.

[blackbellanow]

I think about my kids falling asleep with the tablet on their bed.. sometimes while connected to the charger!! Changing our habits. Thanks for this video!

[STHFGDBY]

I had a small lithium battery explode on my kitchen table. It was not near heat, or sunlight, it wasn't used for anything, it was brand new and I took it out of the packet it came in, put it on the kitchen table and after a couple of minutes it simply got extremely hot and exploded. It did not ignite, but the battery burst open, I touched it and it was very hot. I heard a fizzle sound before it exploded. I now understand how dangerous these batteries can be. They could actually burn your house down.

[jed-henrywitkowski]

I appreciate that you pulled footage from around the world.

[Bill-spkb]

There are fire extinguishers designed to put out flammable metal fires, such as lithium, sodium, magnesium, etc... but they're quite expensive. Might be worth checking out.

[alienlatino]

LOL unintentionally it's the best compilation of battery fires on Youtube, thanks for the gig!