By Heather Morrison
masslive.com
A four-alarm fire rapidly spread at a Massachusetts business earlier this month due to lithium-ion batteries, Onset Fire Chief Jeffrey R. Osswald and State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine said.
“Lithium-ion batteries power many of the devices we use every day,” Osswald said in a press release. “The fire damage and heavy, toxic smoke from this incident demonstrates just how serious we all have to be about battery safety.”
The fire started around 11:40 a.m. on Jan. 5 at a hobby store located at 3086 Cranberry Highway. By the time firefighters arrived, there was already heavy smoke at the large, multi-occupancy commercial building, which houses Wreckless Hobbies, an antique store and a Rent-a-Center. The “significant fire” had spread to two of the businesses, officials said, and firefighters from across the region were requested.
One firefighter had to be taken to the hospital but was released the same day.
Some of the batteries continued to reignite, officials said. A Tier 1 Hazmat responded to assist with the hazard, and the remaining batteries were “carefully” put into dumpsters layered with sand.
Officials said the fire started where batteries were stored and charged, and believe the fire was due to “failure of a lithium-ion battery in that area.”
“About 135 lithium-ion battery fires were reported in Massachusetts last year, and we believe the true number is even higher,” said Davine in a press release. “When these batteries are abused, overcharged, overheated, or defective, they can fail rapidly and violently in a fire or explosion that also releases toxic, flammable gases.”
Not Your Average Antiques, which is in the same building as the hobby store, said that everyone is safe but that the business is gone.
A GoFundMe was started to help the antique store.
“This video makes me cry. It’s the fire that changed my life at an adjacent store,” the store’s Facebook page states.
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