Every time I see Dave Townsend he nags me to put a blog up here. I’m due to meet him at IFE exam marking week soon so thought I had better do something quick!
Most of my most interesting investigations are still likely to end in court at some point so it’s probably best that I don’t discuss openly at this stage.
However, I recently investigated a fire that I had been ‘expecting’ for some time and am interested to know if anyone else has had a similar experience.
The fire started in a battery recycling collection bin, but thankfully didn’t spread every far. I have been expecting something like this since the WEE Regs (Waste Electrical Equipment) and Battery Directive came in. To be honest my concerns were more related to battery collection points in public buildings like shops and libraries.
The fire started in the wee small hours (see what I did there?) in a TV production company building that was unoccupied overnight. The alarm was raised by a smoke detector and the system worked well enough that a keyholder arrived shortly after the fire crews so they were able to get in and restrict the damage.
The plastic bin where the fire started was about the size of a bucket. It was used as a temporary collection point before transfer to a large wheelie bin in another part of the building. This wheelie bin contained thousands (no I didn’t count them!) of batteries.
The bin where the fire started contained hundreds of batteries (I gave up counting after 100) of various sizes, voltage ratings and technologies: Zinc/Carbon, Zinc Chloride, Alkaline, Lithium, Li-ion, AA, C, D and ‘exotic shapes’. (See photo at top) I found no coin batteries. However the predominant type was the 9 volt PP3 (MN1604) ‘smoke alarm’ battery with two terminals at one end. Clearly, if you chuck lots of these batteries in a bin sooner or later you will get a short circuit.
Apparently the camera crews used to empty their pockets at the end of a day’s filming. Although some were exhausted many of the batteries still delivered in excess of their rated voltage so were not exactly discharged! The boss was quite upset at the cost of recycling perfectly good batteries.
Also of interest was that one Li-ion camera pack battery was hot to the touch over 3 hours after the fire. One part of it measured 71.8 ºC.
Has anyone else come across anything similar?
We had a fire a couple of years back in our factory. Someone was storing button cells loose in a bin which started a fire. As for battery recycling issues, we have no way of doing so, which astonishes me. So I was looking up recycling bins and they all seem to be a simple empty bin. I was expecting to find a bin that came with a pound or so of baking soda or some sort of fire retardant/acid neutralizer. There doesn't seem to be any. But I came across this post and must thank you because I was about to buy one when I saw the link to this blog on google. Now I'll make sure to get a bunch of baking soda and perhaps one of those cigarette butt stations.
ReplyDeleteWell, this is a very informative post to all of us. As a fire investigator I must appreciate the points which has been mentioned here. But we should all maintain some basic safety guideline. like,
ReplyDelete1. Install Smoke Detectors at your home and work places
2. Always be careful while cooking
3. Drop and roll: if fire catches your clothes then never run. STOP running and roll over to reduce the flame
4. Use safety guard for electric devices.
5. Match box is always for adults' use. Keep away from children.
6. Do not use elevators in fire affected building. Always use stairs.
7. Visit http://www.firesafetyconsultant.com to know more about a Fire Investigator.