OHIO — Fire departments across Ohio are looking at ways to keep you safe from lithium-ion battery fires and explosions.
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The state fire marshal sees the widespread use of these lithium-ion batteries daily.
Ohio is preparing to build an electric battery plant to meet the demand for the new technology.
Fire officials say while the danger is low, they still need to focus on this potential threat.
“Really, electric vehicles are 11 times less likely to catch fire than your classic internal combustion engine vehicle,” said Captain Evan Balcome, Fire Department of New York. “So, even though we are just focused on the negatives, this is still an up-and-coming technology, and even if as firefighters, we want to complain about everything and say we don’t like it, it’s still here.”
State officials believe it’s a matter of life and death for fire and emergency personnel to know the best way to handle these batteries and how they are stored.
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