BRUNSWICK HILLS TWP., Ohio — This October, Brunswick Hills Twp. Fire Chief Anthony Strazzo said the National Fire Protection Association is setting a week aside to educate people on lithium-ion batteries.
But in the meantime, Strazzo is urging the community to be careful when using them following one woman’s recent experience.
“It’s crazy how many things that you really don’t think of that this could happen to,” said Kelly Gualdoni.
Gualdoni told News 5 she’s in shock after she recorded a video that showed the moments her lithium-ion battery blew up while she charged a chainsaw in her garage.
Thankfully, Gualdoni said she heard the pop before it caused significant damage.
Still, it’s something she said she never expected to happen.
“It was very scary. Very frightening,” said Gualdoni.
“We’ve seen those battery packs explode and actually catch the entire garage on fire,” said Strazzo.
Because of this incident, Strazzo is urging the community to be careful since lithium-ion batteries can be found in a lot of electronic devices like cell phones, computers, tablets and even cordless tools.
“Anything that’s portable that has a battery including the lights that you brought with you today all have a lithium-ion battery,” said Strazzo.
To prevent your device from catching on fire, Strazzo encourages people to charge their devices on hard, flat surfaces with the cords that are provided, to make sure your devices are third-party tested and to try not to keep your devices charging past 100%.
But if something does happen, Strazzo said you should put your device in a lot of water.
News 5’s Remi asked if people should be concerned with their habits if they charge their phone at night and it gets past 100%.
“Usually, cell phones are typically found next to your bed or in close proximity. We’re really concerned about those devices that are say in another room or in your garage,” said Strazzo.
If you have an old lithium-ion battery you want to throw away, Strazzo invites you to drop it off at either of their fire stations so they can deliver it to the Medina County Solid Waste District.
“Had I have not been up, which was crazy, this would’ve been so much worse,” said Gualdoni.
