Fire Prevention Week 2025: Lithium-Ion Battery Safety

Check out this special edition SMFR Podcast about Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Safety! SMFR Captain & Hazmat Team Coordinator Chris Wells and Community Risk Reduction Specialist Brandi Miller discuss how Lithium-Ion Batteries (LiB) have become increasingly popular over the last decade due to their large amount of energy, small size, and convenient use in everyday items. Unfortunately, fire and life safety education related to these batteries hasn’t kept up with their popularity until recently. Many consumers and first responders were faced with extreme health risks, injuries, and fatalities due to fires involving LiBs with a lack of information preparing them for how to navigate those challenges. From the first sign of a problem, you may have less than 1 minute to escape a LiB fire! Although the devices that contain these unique batteries improve our lives in many ways, it's important to know how we can prevent fires involving these popular batteries; and if a fire does occur, how we should respond to that emergency. Visit https://www.southmetrocrr.org/ to learn more!