Improper disposal of lithium-ion batteries sparks fire

By James Robinson
Posted 8/28/24

A recent fire has local safety officials urging citizens to be mindful of the requirement that lithium-ion batteries be discarded at approved facilities.    

On Aug. 7, Jefferson …

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Improper disposal of lithium-ion batteries sparks fire

Posted

A recent fire has local safety officials urging citizens to be mindful of the requirement that lithium-ion batteries be discarded at approved facilities.   

On Aug. 7, Jefferson County Transfer Station employees hustled to extinguish a smoldering lithium-ion battery fire before it caused a bigger blaze at the facility.

“Had the smoke not been spotted by one of the attendants the load would have soon been pushed into a container staged in the ‘pit’ where it could have engulfed the entire 26 tons of garbage along with the knuckle-boom crane over it,” said Al Cairns, solid waste manager for the Jefferson County Department of Public Works. “That crane has a replacement value of roughly $500,000.”

Cairns said because the batteries were smoldering in a large pile of trash, it was hard to tell how much of the surrounding trash had caught fire.

“The County employee operating the knuckle-boom crane separated the smoking materials from the larger pile and another employee then pushed this smaller pile off of the tipping floor with the front-end loader. Additional staff then hosed it down and placed the materials in a metal can with approved lithium-ion battery fire suppression pellets,” he said.

Cairns added that these sorts of fires are often seen in loads brought in from curbside collection compactor trucks and can be prevented.

“Because the fire is within a larger compacted load it is more difficult to isolate the battery and extinguish it.” Cairns said county personnel were able to extinguish the fire and did not need to call the fire department. 

It could have been much worse.

“These types of fires are all too typical for transfer stations across the state,” Cairns said, adding that proper disposal is key. 

Jefferson County offers free drop off locations at the county Environmental Center located across from the recycling facility ahead of the scales at the Port Townsend transfer station; the Environmental Center at the Quilcene drop box facility; the public works offices at 623 Sheridan Street in Port Townsend; or by handing the battery to an attendant at either solid waste facility.