Three dead after charging battery causes residential fire in New Taipei City
Three people died after a lithium-ion battery caught fire and exploded while charging, setting fire to a residence in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District early this morning, June 13.
New Taipei City Fire Department received reports of a fire on the fourth floor of a 7-storey residential building in a lane on Yanshou Road at 3:32 am. NTCFD dispatched 50 vehicles and 136 personnel to deal with the fire.
Firefighters cut iron bars on a balcony to rescue a man named Lee and his daughter. However, Lee’s 58-year-old wife, his 26-year-old son, and the 29-year-old boyfriend of Lee’s daughter attempted to escape the fire by running upstairs to the seventh floor.
Firefighters brought the fire under control and entered the house at around 4:00 am. The bodies of the three people were found in the stairway and on the seventh floor.
According to the preliminary investigation, the fire is believed to have started when the Lithium-ion battery of an electric hedge trimmer caught fire in the living room. Family members woke up and attempted to extinguish the fire, but the battery exploded, and the fire quickly went out of control.
The New Taipei City Fire Department said that according to statistics there have been 191 lithium-ion battery fires in the last two years. Common causes of lithium-ion battery fires are product defects, incorrect usage, and heavy falls or impacts.
The Fire Department urged people to pay attention to the following matters when using lithium batteries to prevent fires:
- 1. Choose products bearing the “Commodity Safety Label” of the Bureau of Standards and Inspection of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
- 2. Read the instructions carefully before use, and use according to the instructions.
- 3. Avoid direct sunlight, high temperature or nearby flammable objects when charging.
- 4. Please remove the power source as soon as possible after charging is completed to avoid overcharging, and avoid charging while sleeping.
- 5. Avoid dropping, squeezing, or impacts on mobile phones and power bank products.
- 6. When carrying, avoid metal objects contacting the two poles of the battery to cause a short circuit.
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Dare I ask how many lives and how much property have been ruined or lost in Taiwan to marijuana in the past, say, half a century? And how many lives and how much property have been ruined or lost to chemical fires in the same period? And specifically how many lives and how much property have been ruined or lost to fires and gases from combustion and explosions due to the presence of lithium-ion batteries in vehicles and various kinds of equipment? THE USE AND STORAGE OF THESE AND SIMILAR BATTERIES OR POWER SOURCES MUST BE BANNED.