This is National Fire Prevention Week and the focus is on lithium-ion battery safety.
Estherville Fire Chief Travis Sheridan says his department responded to a fire this week that was sparked by lithium-ion batteries in a charging station. “Make sure they get charged, but pull them off the charger. Don’t leave them on the charger,” he says. “That’s the big message there when it comes to lithium batteries. Always make sure to be careful and just don’t leave them on a charger unattended for long periods of time.”
The fire sparked by a battery charger earlier this week in Estherville started on the home’s porch. The homeowner used a garden hose and a sheriff’s deputy used fire extinguishers to fight the fire until the Estherville Fire Department arrived and put the fire out.
Sheridan is suggesting people use this week to review escape plans if there’s a fire in your home, especially if there are children in the house. “Families should always have those conversations about escape routes and making sure that kids, in the event of a house fire, they get out of the house and they don’t go and hide in a closet where they feel safe or something,” Sheridan says. “They get out of the house, they meet at a location so they can all gather.”
Through the first nine months of the year, the State Fire Marshal’s Office has confirmed 29 people have died in fires in Iowa.
(By Ed Funston, KILR, Estherville)