STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS

Halifax fire officials are warning people to be cautious with rechargeable lithium batteries after two destructive structure fires in May.

It’s the same warning that has been coming from other fire departments in the past year.

The first fire happened on May 17 on Regency Court in Fall River. Matt Covey, the division chief of fire prevention, said a “hobby-grade” radio-control battery for a large remote-controlled vehicle was involved.

He said hobby-grade means batteries and a charger don’t come with a vehicle, but that are purchased separately based on the hobbyist's personal preference.

“It’s not always obvious to someone that it requires specialized knowledge,” he said. “These batteries are much more powerful and last longer (than NiCad batteries), but they’re exotic in the way they have to be charged and used.”

When those knockoff batteries get to the point of a thermal runaway…they go quick… This smoke is extremely toxic so make sure to go on air immediately if you are involved with incidents involving these batteries. RP:flowandvent.https://t.co/gj6VQzpyZj pic.twitter.com/V5Vt9WDAfh

People also need to be sure they’re buying safety-approved batteries and chargers, and not necessarily the cheapest ones they can find online.

“You get what you pay for in that market,” Covey said.

“When these batteries ignite it’s pretty spectacular,” he said. “It does a lot of damage and it’s hard to recreate the scene beforehand.”

The battery in Fall River was charging unattended, but Covey didn’t know what kind of charger was being used.

“When you get into hobby-grade batteries, they typically use a special type of charger that typically require a (specific) type of configuration to use them,” he said.

The problem could have been the charger or a problem inside the battery, Covey said.

“When you get into hobby grade, the level of protection with the battery preserving itself, is not there like it is when compared to one in your cellphone. They have all kinds of voltage protection and temperature protection.”

He said that makes it more likely that there can be a failure with the battery.

“Over time, the chemistry inside them breaks down and they will start to fail.”

He said when batteries start to fail they may swell up or go out of balance, which means the cells in them don’t charge or discharge at the same level.

“That’s when it’s time to stop using that battery,” Covey said. “There are a lot of things that could go wrong in that scenario. We don’t know exactly what went wrong, but those are the key areas for those types of batteries.

Covey said the Fall River house was a total loss.

Four days after that fire, a home on Main Street in Bedford suffered extensive damage when an after-market charger for a rechargeable vacuum battery failed in a closet.

He said that battery was probably lithium ion as opposed to lithium polymer that was in the Fall River fire.

The battery sometimes has a lot of protections built into it, but sometimes the charger has the protection built in, so it will eventually refuse to charge the battery if it detects something wrong.

“The issue here was that you get these aftermarket chargers that don’t have that level of intelligence built into them and they’ll just charge it, even if they shouldn’t.”

He said when that happens, if the chemistry inside the battery becomes unstable, it will start a fire.

He said with rapid chargers being used there could also be fires caused when charging cellphones or laptops, if they are not charged somewhere where the heat can dissipate.

He said good batteries are supposed to be able to detect that they are heating up and reduce how quickly they are charging, but there is a possibility that they may not be able to dissipate quickly enough.

Those cases are still rare, Covey said, but the problems also come with other things like power tools, scooters and bikes. And other high-discharge, high-capacity batteries that people want to charge in an hour.

Lithium Ion battery fires are the number 1 cause of fire deaths in the City of Vancouver for 2022. 5 people have died this year already. Never overcharge, modify, or leave unattended while charging. Always use manufacturer approved replacement devices.

He said after-market batteries and chargers may be cheaper, but that is usually because they do not have parts inside that are keeping them safe.

The basic safety tip, he said, is to avoid those after-market batteries and chargers, and check the batteries for signs of trouble like swelling or the case cracking, or getting extremely hot to the touch.

Also, he said, batteries for things like tools, scooters and hobby grade uses should not be charged unattended. “There’s so much that can go wrong that you almost want to put them in a place were it’s safe to charge and they can be monitored.

Finally, Covey said, nothing should be charged on a bed or a fabric surface.

“People will charge their laptops on a bed or a fabric surface like a bed, and that’s a terrible idea,” he said. “They can’t dissipate the heat, because they’re sitting on a fabric and could sink into the fabric. The fans that typically blow the heat away can’t dissipate the heat and they overheat that way.

Ensure local journalism stays in your community by purchasing a membership today.

The news and opinions you’ll love for only $14.99/month.

Start your Membership Now

Your home for the news shaping Canada's East Coast