With the growing number of electric vehicles and battery-powered devices of all kinds, we may wonder whether our safety is increasingly affected.

Indeed, the news and the various videos on streaming platforms show us that the battery in our favorite devices is far from harmless : cell phone battery explosions, sudden fires in scooters on charge, in electric cars, in electrical appliances left plugged in… Every battery-powered device is a possible danger to ourselves, our children or our homes.

What do all these batteries have in common ? The lithium they contain.

While protections exist to prevent them from catching fire, they are not always optimal :

• Lithium cells : these are fitted with safety vents that release the flammable gases produced by a possible thermal runaway. Internal fuses also cut off charging in the event of a sudden rise in temperature.
• The Battery Management System is an electronic board that manages the charging and discharging of the cells. It checks the batteries' operating parameters. This board offers various functions that limit the risk of overheating.

The problem with these two kinds of protection is that some unscrupulous manufacturers, in order to cut their manufacturing costs, neglect quality by producing cells or boards that lack all the control safeguards needed if the batteries overheat, which in the worst case can cause them to explode or burn.

What should you do if a battery catches fire ?

If the fire is outdoors, let it burn but call the fire department right away. It is important to know, however, that you must avoid breathing the fumes, which are very toxic.

Firefighters can face 3 kinds of lithium batteries whose fires are more or less difficult to control : lithium-ion, fairly tricky to control, lithium-polymer, even harder to control, and lithium-iron-phosphate, which do not catch fire.

Lithium-ion batteries can be sprayed with plenty of water to cool the cells and stop the melting of the metals they are made of. However, the fire may reignite several hours later. You must therefore remain very vigilant.

The fire of lithium-metal-polymer batteries, which is very hard to extinguish, can possibly be controlled with sand, which will cut off the oxygen supply.

So what are the prevention solutions ?

We have seen that extinguishing a battery fire remains very complicated and that it can spread very quickly, especially in an enclosed place such as a garage or a home. The first solution to consider is therefore prevention.

A battery fire can be prevented in various ways :

• The place where you charge your equipment must not be cluttered with flammable objects or materials. It must be fitted with a smoke detector, to be installed as close as possible to the charging spot : it will react by sounding a piercing alarm as soon as the first smoke appears.
• The fire blanket : it smothers the fire and prevents it from spreading. It also does not deteriorate on contact with very high temperatures.
• Fire extinguishers : while standard fire extinguishers are not effective against a lithium battery fire, you will need at least a class D fire extinguisher for metal fires, the most effective being a lithium fire extinguisher, which contains a fluid agent that coats and cools each cell.
• Only buy equipment that has been checked, tested and meets European safety standards.
• Never leave a plugged-in device unattended and follow the charging instructions recommended by the manufacturer.
• Do not use it if it has suffered an impact or is damaged.
• Unplug the device if you have the slightest doubt (suspicious smell, smoke…)

To sum up, if a fire breaks out, it is essential to keep your cool. Unplug your equipment and call the fire department right away. Avoid breathing the fumes as much as possible, as they are very toxic, and leave your home, closing the door behind you. If you have a lithium fire extinguisher, use it, but never put yourself in danger.

There is no such thing as zero risk so always stay vigilant !