Trashing lithium-ion batteries causing fires across Georgia

JEFFERSON, Ga. - There's a good chance that somewhere in your home right now is a kind of battery that's quickly become the bane of firefighters everywhere.

They’re called lithium-ion batteries, used to power everything from toothbrushes to cell phones to the electric vehicle that may be in your garage now or in the near future.

All of those are safe if handled properly.

But when they’re not, they can be a huge headache for firefighters with little or no hands-on training for how to control the kind of fire those batteries might cause.

The dangers often start in the trash.

"Everything’s recyclable, so we have to watch out for everything," explained Jackson County Waste Transfer Station Supervisor Michael Evans.

For Evans, every day is hunting season. He spends his entire shift searching for tiny dangers in a haystack of trash bags.

So far, he’s bagged at least a dozen lithium-ion batteries that people mistakenly throw away.

"It's hard to do this with 600 tons of trash like this a day, but we're trying," he said as he picked through another bag of garbage by hand. "We're trying."

The batteries are typically no danger unless they’re punctured, damaged, or they overheat. Like other solid waste operations, Jackson County uses heavy machinery to move their trash from the transfer station to dump trucks which then carry their loads to a nearby landfill.

But machinery can inadvertently cut or flatten a battery. This year, six fires have started in the trash at the Jackson County Transfer Station. One came from a rechargeable toothbrush.

"They have all been extinguished quickly," explained Jackson County Manager Kevin Poe. "We’ve seen fires caused by chemicals, cell phone batteries and laptop batteries. Unfortunately, any of those items can come from an individual resident."

Home-use lithium-ion batteries should be recycled, not thrown in the trash. Certain hardware stores accept used batteries for power tools. Others can be dropped off with battery retailers or various automotive supply stores.

Fire safety experts stress recycling is the best way to prevent a lithium-ion battery fire because once one starts, it needs only a few minutes to spark a chemical chain reaction that poses a major challenge to extinguish.

That’s what happened a few months ago at a recycling center in Banks County.

Metro Site filed a $26.5 million lawsuit against SK Battery, accusing the major lithium-ion battery manufacturer a few miles away for wrongly shipping dozens of their discarded batteries.

Metro Site is not set up to recycle hazardous waste, the classification for these batteries. The lawsuit alleged SK Battery was warned multiple times to stop mixing in their batteries with the rest of their recyclable materials sent to Metro Site.

Fire investigators say one of those batteries caught fire while buried under other flammable materials. That fire spread to the other batteries — investigators believe at least 100 — leading to a series of fires that took an entire weekend to extinguish.

Metro Site was a total loss. 

"You have to be 100 percent accurate, or peoples going to get hurt and property’s going to get damaged," complained Metro owner Scott Ledford.

SK Battery denied doing anything intentionally wrong.

Proper recycling isn’t the only answer.

Authorities also warn the public to charge devices only with the charging cable that came with the product. And never charge your phone and stash it under your pillow. It can overheat while you’re sleeping.

"One of the biggest hazards in your house is your teenager’s room," said Ike McConnell, director of the Georgia Fire Academy.

The state developed on-line training courses for how best to tackle lithium-ion battery fires. But McConnell said every manufacturer has a different recommendation.

They also still can’t give firefighters real-world practice like they do with burn houses or gasoline-powered cars at their training center. They don’t even have an electrical vehicle, another fire danger if involved in a serious accident on the road.

"We’re working with Tesla to get one," he explained.

Also missing — a state law that would require companies to notify the local fire department if they have these batteries on site.

Volunteers at the Eastanollee Fire Department wished they had a better idea of what they were facing in the summer of 2022.

They showed up at the American eCycle warehouse unaware that the company stockpiled lithium-ion batteries for future recycling.

"At least a million batteries were in there," said Fire Chief Jamey Gettys.

He’s not exaggerating. Pictures show the Stephens County warehouse was packed with them.

As Gettys and his crew approached, the building exploded. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt.

It would take two days — and an estimated two million gallons of water — before the warehouse was considered safe to approach.

"Not sure we actually put it out," Gettys said. "I think it burned down to a point where it was controllable."

Workers scooped up some of the batteries and dumped them into a collection of blue containers. One month later, they caught fire again.

The Georgia Fire Marshal has yet to release what originally ignited those batteries in Eastanollee.

"I think it’s something we’re going to have to deal with across the country as we see more and more of these batteries," Gettys said.

The public does have some control over future fires when it comes to lithium-ion batteries.

Don’t expose them to high temperatures. Don’t damage them. And definitely don’t throw them in your trash.

Someone may not always be watching.

Use this site to find the nearest battery recycling dropoff near you.