Tom Ronaldson: Fire and Emergency New Zealand's Community Education Manager on safely using lithium-ion batteries

Warnings to be careful after a string of fires was linked to lithium-ion batteries.  

Scrap metal company Sims Metal has been fined $30 thousand over a 2023 fire that released toxic smoke near Ōtāhuhu. 

A massive blaze at a recycling plant near Glenfield last month was also linked to lithium-ion batteries, as well as a number of fires breaking out in rubbish trucks across the city. 

Fire and Emergency New Zealand's Community Education Manager Tom Ronaldson told Kerre Woodham that lithium-ion batteries are perfectly safe, as long as they’re used correctly. 

He says you should only be charging devices while you’re awake, and unplugged as soon as they’re fully charged. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerrywood and Mornings podcast from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hedb Auckland councils issuing a wake up call for businesses
after a string of fires linked to lithium iron batteries.
Scrap metal company Sim's Metal has been fined thirty thousand
dollars over a twenty twenty three fire that released toxic
smoke near oor Tahoho. A massive blaze at a recycling
plant near Glenfield last month was also linked to lithium

(00:34):
iron batteries. You've got thirteen waste truck fires in Auckland,
six in christ Church so far this year which have
been caused by lithium iron batteries been put out in
general waste and what happens when you get those fires
is that the waste just gets dumped out onto the

(00:55):
road and fire. An emergency has to come along and
deal with him. And according to AMI Insurance, there's been
a seven teen percent increase here on here and fires
started from lithium ion batteries where people are charging their
e devices. Once they're full, they overheat and they start fires.

(01:18):
So how do we given the prevalence the ubiquitous use
of lithium ion batteries, how do we use them and
dispose of them safely? Fire an emergency? New Zealand's Community
Education Manager Tom Ronaldson joins me, now, really good morning
to you.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Good morning Carrie, how are you good?

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Thanks? They're everywhere, aren't they? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, looking mind. Batteries are in a lot of products nowadays,
and they are becoming more common.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
So why are they such a problem. Are they unsafe
by their very nature?

Speaker 3 (01:52):
No, we wouldn't be allowed to sell products if they're unsafe.
I think the key here is that liviumine batteries are
safe if they're used correctly. So at fire an emergency,
we really encourage people to be mindful of their devices.
So if they're battery has been dropped or it's beginning
to get too hot to touch while charging all they're
overcharging it. That's where we start to see fires occur

(02:15):
because the battery is being mishandled. So it's about taking
the right steps to protect yourself and your battery from
catching pie.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Most of us when we go to bed stick our
phone onto charge stick, the fitbit or the smart watch
onto charge stick, the hearing aids onto charge stick, the
scooter onto charge and go to sleep. Is that wrong?

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Yeah, we should be charging while we're awake and also
able to disconnect the device once it's fully charged. So
a tip that I like to say is when I
get home from work, I pop my phone onto charge
and then once it's full, I unplug it so it's
ready for the next day.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
But usually if we're awake, we're using them.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yeah, so you know, leaving it to charge on your
bench for a few for an hour or so once
it's charged, and then if you do need to top
it up just before you go to bed, then that's
another option as well.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
But stay awake while you're doing it.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, definitely make sure that you're there to address anything
that could happen and also prevent that from overcharging.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
So what are the most common household objects that are
the catalyst for fires?

Speaker 3 (03:28):
It varies. We've seen a number of fires caused by
the likes of power tools, but also laptops. There's no
real trend at the moment that we're seeing from particular items.
I guess our message here is that anything with the
lithium ion battery should be used safely, charged safely, and
people should be aware of the risks that potentially are

(03:49):
associated with it if it's not used.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
A lot of people are who are wedded to the
ice machines, so that the electric cars. One of the
biggest problems of those is charging those with the a
with power that is needed to charge them, and also
with the fact that once that battery catches fire, then

(04:12):
you're in real trouble. It's very very hard to put out.
Do you agree?

Speaker 3 (04:19):
Electric cars are incredibly safe and manufacturers do a lot
of work to make sure that charging is safe with them.
If it does get to a point where there is
a fire, yes, it can take a significant amount of
time to put them out. However, I don't think it's
necessarily something that people should be alarmed about because there's
so many safety protocols in place when it comes to

(04:41):
electric vehicles.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
When it comes to disposing of lithium ion batteries, how
do we do so safely?

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, so it's really important that we don't put them
in either the household rubbish or the household recycling. They
need to go to a better collection location. So Wasteman
has a fantastic website which has a list of all
locations around New Zealand that take batteries. So what people
should do is, if they've got one or two, maybe

(05:10):
three batteries at home, is look up where they're nearest
collection pointers, take it there so then it can be
recycled properly.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
What happens if a fire starts in your home because
of a lithium mine battery overheating? Are you still covered
when we're supposed to know that you don't overcharge?

Speaker 3 (05:31):
I'm not able to answer questions about insurance. Sorry, okay,
but if they do have a fire caused by a
lithium mine battery, our advice is do not tackle that fire,
exit the house immediately and call one one.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
One Okay, so fire extinguisher wouldn't work.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
Oh the the the key here is that these better,
these fires involving lithium mine batteries can spread really quickly.
So what we want to make sure is that people
get out, call us straight away and then we can
come and deal with it.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Do vapes have lithia mine batteries?

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (06:04):
They do, yep, Oh my god, so they must be everywhere.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
Yeah, yeah, there's some companies do do battery collection for vapes.
So it's important when you do buy a vape, is
that you're not throwing that in the in the public
rubbish or your own rubbish. You are treating that like
a lithium mine battery, even those disposable ones, and you're
taking it to a place where it can be recycled appropriately.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
Crikey, I bet that doesn't happen at all. It's a
wonder there aren't more fires.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
Yeah, there's a lot of them are in the market.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Okay, So if you can reiterate what we need to
know now that lithia mind batteries are everywhere and just
about everything.

Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah, So the key here is to treat your lithium
I own battery with respect. So what that means is
charging it safely. So we want to charge it on
a hard, flat surface while we're awake, so that we
can do anything should something occur. We also want to
make sure that we are unplugging any devices as soon
as they are completely charged. We also want to be
mindful of keeping the battery and even temperature, so not

(07:09):
leaving it in hot cars or in direct sunlight as
a really good way to protect your battery from catching fire.
And then I guess last thing, and most importantly is
when you're done with the Lifium Mind Battery is making
sure that you are taking it to the appropriate location
to be recycled.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
All right, thank you very much, Tom.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
That was a For more from Kerry Wood and Mornings.
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