LRPS protective services tanker - Dan Gray - The Border Pulse
About 300 people attended the Legacy Regional Protective Services open house on Oct. 7 to learn about charging safety.
Chief Dean Peters said this year’s Fire Prevention Week theme, charging into fire safety, centres on lithium-ion batteries. He said they now power nearly everything, from phones and watches to tablets, clocks and appliances.
“The most dangerous time for a battery, unless you’re going to drop it or smash it, is when you’re charging it,” said Peters.
He said trouble often starts with the charger itself.
“A lot of times your product is going to come with a charger, and then you can go to Amazon, and for a few bucks you can buy one that is going to charge it in half that span of time,” said Peters. “That’s where we’re getting into trouble.”
His advice is simple. Use the charger that came with the device.
Peters said storage matters less. Keeping batteries in a garage or shed, or in hot or cold weather, does not change the risk much. He said the danger is while a battery charges.
He said Legacy Regional crews have seen a number of incidents involving charging batteries.
Peters thanked the volunteers who helped run the open house, along with the people who came out. Hot dogs were on the menu.
He encouraged residents to bring their questions to firefighters.
“Talk to us about your batteries, because we’ve seen a number of instances where a charging battery has caused a problem,” said Peters.
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