The Dashwood Volunteer Fire Department chief is warning the community after an unplugged lithium polymer battery exploded and started a fire in his home.
Chief Nick Acciavatti said the battery was used in an airsoft gun by his son and once depleted, was set down on a carpet. Approximately 15 minutes later it exploded and soon ignited a nearby scarf.
"Due to the volatility of the battery blowing up and burning, self burning, it caught the scarf on fire, which then caught part of the closet on fire," he said.
Thankfully the smoke alarms were working and alerted Acciavatti's wife, who ran for a bucket of water — but the fire continued to spread into the closet. A second round of water extinguished the blaze, Acciavatti said.
"It's lucky she was home. If she hadn't got it, it probably would have burned the house down by the time somebody would have noticed it," he added. "I think if she was 10 or 15 minutes later, the whole closet would have been on fire and it would have been beyond what she could have put out."
Acciavatti is well aware of the fire risks associated with batteries due to overcharging or damage, but he was shocked that a dead battery sitting on its own could blow up.
"This battery was new, and it wasn't plugged into anything and it was spent," he said. "And it still blew up. For us, that's scary."
Acciavatti said as a precaution he will store and charge lithium polymer batteries in fire safe containers. He plans to buy a metal ammo can, remove the gasket from the top and drill some holes for ventilation.
"You can store these batteries and you can charge them one at a time inside the metal ammo can, so if it does go off, it will be contained to that metal container," he added. "The technology is so new to everybody. I think the hazards are slowly presenting themselves with these products."
