DHS S&T, the Fire Department of the City of New York and U.S. Fire Administration recently hosted a workshop with firefighters and scientists from across the nation to discuss emerging hazards and threats from community electrification and rising incidents of lithium-ion battery fires.
Over the past five years, New York City has experienced a sharp rise in fires linked to lithium-ion batteries, with fatalities climbing from none in 2019 to 18 by 2023. New York City has acutely experienced the rise in lithium-ion battery fires, but these deadly blazes are not confined to the Big Apple. Across the country, they are claiming lives, destroying property and disrupting commerce. Lithium-ion batteries have become ubiquitous in everyday lives, powering everything from cell phones, laptops and e-bikes to electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage systems. However, their potential for catastrophic failure poses significant risks. When a failure is triggered, these batteries can enter “thermal runaway”—an uncontrollable, self-heating state marked by the release of toxic gases and rapid conflagration that can lead to explosions. The complexity and intensity of lithium-ion battery fires make them a formidable challenge for firefighters to extinguish.
With the FDNY at the forefront of the fight against this growing threat, they reached out to DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) for help. S&T’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) established the Energy Innovation and Public Safety program to provide first responders with insights and techniques for effective response to lithium-ion battery fires and information on the health and safety impacts to themselves and the public. In late October, NUSTL brought together firefighters and scientific experts for a two-day workshop at the FDNY Fire Academy in New York City. The workshop created a unique platform for front line responders to share operator-centric knowledge with the research community. These discussions are shaping research priorities to address the most urgent challenges faced by the fire service, from combatting lithium-ion battery fires to navigating the broader complexities of community electrification.
Fire Commissioner Robert S. Tucker opened the event by emphasizing the grim cost of these fires and offered some successful strategies that the FDNY has employed to mitigate them, including a lithium-ion battery checklist for firefighters to use and a public education campaign they launched about safe handling – all of which, combined, have contributed to a reduction of injuries and deaths. But there is still more work to be done.
Everyone in attendance agreed that now is the time to ramp up the level of energy (pun intended) necessary to tackle this important challenge for responders and the public. As energy innovation expands with the widespread adoption of these high energy density batteries, it is important to ensure they are as safe as possible. Understanding that electrification of communities is only going to continue to increase, it is important to study what is happening across the country and internationally and draw from firefighters’ experiences to help drive progress and prioritize research.
Galvanizing this diverse stakeholder community around a priority concern is a true testament to NUSTL’s service to the first responder community and a prime example of how the lab equips those on the front lines to prepare for, protect against and respond to homeland security threats. The lab, and S&T as whole, knows there is work to be done, and we’re using opportunities like this workshop to listen, learn and guide future work.
FDNY’s Chief Marshall Daniel Flynn spoke about the increasing workloads of hazardous material units when responding to these incidents as they must deal with toxic materials that potentially linger long after the fire is extinguished. And according to the U.S. Fire Administration, more research is needed to ensure personal protective equipment can be effectively cleaned after these incidents.
So, what comes next? S&T is analyzing the information gathered with the goal of building a research, development and test and evaluation roadmap focusing on the highest impact solutions for public safety. By fostering collaboration between operational users and researchers, S&T plans to develop innovative solutions to this public safety challenge.
