Several recent fires have been sparked by lithium-ion batteries. Here are some safety tips

PITTSBURGH — Several recent house fires have been started by a lithium-ion battery, according to officials.

One woman we spoke with said she didn’t realize the battery she had stored in her garage would eventually ignite.

“You hear about these things, but you never think it’s going to happen,” said Megan Schaffer.

Schaffer told Channel 11 News that her son’s hoover board went up in flames early Tuesday morning after being left on the charger in the garage.

“Our smoke alarms went off at 3:45 in the morning. We gathered up the pets and the kids and came out,” she explained.

The fire department identified the cause: a lithium-ion battery inside of the hoverboard.

They immediately put the hoverboard in a steel tin filled with a solution that absorbs the heat.

What’s more shocking – the fire chief said they responded to another hoverboard fire in the same neighborhood the same morning.

It is scary. We have to be careful about charging our batteries overnight or when we’re not home,” said Robert Fetty, the Assistant Chief of the Chartiers Township Fire Department.

Expert insurance investigator John Henry said this is unfortunately becoming too common.

“I can tell you in the last week to seven days, I have personally been on five significant fire-related incidents,” Henry said.

We asked why there’s an increase in lithium-battery fires.

Henry said as more companies begin to use these types of batteries, consumers need more education - like how to avoid buying counterfeit batteries or cheap generics that often ignite.

“The tendency is to get on Amazon or wherever and buy a replacement charger, but you may be buying a third-party charger that is manufactured overseas,” he explained.

As for that homeowner, she said she’s lucky it wasn’t worse.

“We are fortunate these things can be replaced,” said Schaffer.

Below are some safety tips:

• Purchase and use devices that are listed by a qualified testing laboratory.
• Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Only use the battery that is designed for the device.
• Put batteries in the device the right way.
• Only use the charging cord that came with the device.
• Do not charge a device under your pillow, on your bed, or on a couch.
• Do not keep charging the device or device battery after it is fully charged.
• Keep batteries at room temperature when possible. Do not charge them at temperatures below 32 degrees or above 105 degrees.
• Store batteries away from anything that can catch fire

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