Children from the community gathered around Oconto Falls Fire Chief Tim Magnin to hear a story on fire safety Oct. 14.
The event was hosted by the Oconto Falls Community Library and was an addendum to Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 5-11.
“This year’s theme for fire prevention week is ‘Charge into Fire Safety: Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home,’” Magnin said.
Happy children sang songs, completed crafts, sat inside a fire engine, and listened to a story read aloud by Magnin.
“Most of the electronics in our homes — smartphones, tablets, power and lawn tools, laptops, headphones, and toys, to name just a few — are powered by lithium-ion batteries,” Magnin said.
Children and adults learned the best practice for charging electronics.
“When we charge, it should always be on something hard like a table, a desk, or a counter,” Magnin said. “These are flat, hard, and safe. Soft places like a bed or couch can get hot and are not safe for charging.”
Children also learned the fire safety basics of “stop, drop, and roll” and using caution before handling a door knob when escaping a burning building.
According to the National Fire Protection Association — the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for more than 100 years — devices powered by lithium-ion batteries are largely used without incident. However, reports of fires and explosions involving lithium-ion batteries have been on the rise in recent years, reinforcing the importance of better educating the public about how to use, handle, and recycle them safely.
NFPA suggests that “when buying a product that uses a lithium-ion battery, take time to research it.” Consumers should “look for a stamp from a nationally recognized testing lab on it.”
With online shopping being the norm, the NFPA warns that “many products sold online … may not meet safety standards and could increase the risk of fire.”
Buying certified and tested electrical devices is important, but proper care and disposal are the first steps to reducing risk of fire.
The overheating of a lithium-ion battery can trigger thermal runaway, which is a chain reaction of uncontrolled heating that leads to fire or explosion.
The U.S. Fire Administration, an entity of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, states on its website, “Lithium-ion batteries contain volatile electrolytes, and when exposed to high temperatures or physical damage, they can release flammable gases.”
Signs of thermal runaway in progress are damages such as cracking, bulging, popping/hissing, visible gases venting, and rising temperature.
“Lithium-ion batteries burn at temperatures of around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, making them extremely difficult to extinguish,” according to the USDA website. “These fires can require 10 times more water than gasoline fires to put out.”
Even after extinguishing a lithium-ion battery fire, there is a risk of reignition, according to the USFA.
Fire prevention week’s theme hits close to home for many folks because of a proposed 50-megawatt lithium-ion battery facility to be constructed in the town of Morgan.
The proposed battery site is in conjunction with the Fox Solar Project, a 648.9-acre solar farm planned for construction near CCC Road and County Road C.
“We were told by the developer that within the solar farm site there would be at least 10-acres of lithium-ion batteries,” said Lori Witthuhn, town chairwoman. “We need to take safety into consideration because we don’t want another Moss Landing happening here.”
Witthuhn was referring to a lithium-ion battery fire in Moss Landing, California, which burned earlier this year. The fire’s smoke plume posed extreme health hazards and forced mass evacuations due to the release of hydrogen fluoride gas.
“The developer did not provide us with a safety or evacuation plan,” Witthuhn said. “We need to know how to keep our people safe.”
The Fox Solar Project’s 50-megawatt battery site would be monitored remotely, according to the certificate of public convenience provided by the Public Service Commission.
“I have asked by whom and where is this monitored. They could not answer that,” Witthuhn said. “If the Public Service Commission allows this to happen it will be an absolute disregard for the health, safety, and welfare of this community.”
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