It's been a little while since I've had a chance to highlight some more lithium-ion battery mischief. But then GlobalTvlr said Stache had some new videos, and I found one right off the bat that was really interesting.
And of course, that led to some more stuff when I went digging.
Here's a video from this past May. It's a trailer engulfed in flames on the shoulder of I-70 in Greenfield, Indiana.
32,000 pounds of lithium-ion batteries lit off, and the fire wound up shutting down all lanes of that busy interstate.
The video is pretty spectacular.
The freeway was closed for a couple of hours as crews tried to extinguish the notoriously tricky and dangerous batteries that were burning away.
According to the Greenfield Fire Territory, the semi-truck was carrying 32,000 pounds of lithium ion batteries, which made it difficult to contain the fire.
"Due to the size and complexity of the incident, 38 apparatus from numerous agencies are currently operating on scene," the Greenfield Fire Territory wrote in the Facebook post.
Eastbound lanes were shut down around 10 a.m., with all westbound lanes shut down around 10:30 a.m. Both directions were backed up for miles, according to live camera views from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
As of 12:30 p.m., all westbound lanes have reopened, while eastbound traffic remains blocked.
All eastbound lanes were back open as of 4 p.m.
What was also interesting was not only what the first responders did - the b**t load of them, all 38 various types of equipment and their corresponding departments - but how the pallets of destroyed and still dangerously toxic and potentially still explosive batteries were handled afterward. That part hardly ever receives any coverage in these cases. In this event, however, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management provided a bit of an update later.
They basically entombed the pallets in a sodium chloride bath.
Last week, IDEM assisted authorities in Hancock County in responding to a semi‑trailer fire on I‑70 near Greenfield. The trailer was transporting 15 pallets (31,780 pounds) of lithium‑ion batteries when they ignited.
Several fire departments, the IDHS Fire Marshal's Office, Hancock County EMA, & INDOT responded to the incident, which involved the closure of both lanes of the interstate. 🚒
The batteries were placed in a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution to fully de‑energize them. After a fire, lithium‑ion batteries can remain unstable for hours or even days. NaCl is conductive, allowing any residual electrical charge to drain slowly and safely, preventing reignition. 🔋
IDEM continues to provide oversight of the cleanup and is working closely with the responsible party to guide response actions, conduct environmental sampling, and ensure all materials are managed safely. Soil samples will be collected and tested next week for metals and volatile organics. Any necessary remediation will be carried out based on those results. Fortunately, no impact on aquatic life was observed in any nearby waterways.
No word on where the ruined batteries go from there, and I haven't found any word on the research into what authorities believe caused the initial ignition.
This Greenfield semi fire is a dead ringer for the video I found so interesting on Stache, detailing a semi fire again on I-70, but in Pennsylvania this time, and just a week ago.
Hazmat crews called after truck carrying e-cigarette batteries, EV battery catches fire on I-70
Hazmat was called to a scene after a tractor-trailer caught fire along part of I-70 in Westmoreland County Monday evening.
Westmoreland County dispatchers confirmed to Pittsburgh's Action News 4 that a tractor-trailer caught fire on eastbound I-70 near the Yukon exit in South Huntingdon Township.
According to the Westmoreland County Hazardous Materials Response Team 800, the driver had been carrying a mixed load which included 3 pallets of e-cigarette batteries and a 2,000 pound automobile EV battery.
By the time crews arrived, the fire had burned through the top of the trailer.
Officials removed the contents of the trailer and began cooling the smoldering EV battery, according to Team 800.
So this trailer was full of a whole mixed bag of crap, up to and including pallets of e-cigs/vape pens, their lithium-ion batteries, and a 2,000-lb Kia electric vehicle battery.
As the Stache video breaks down, first indications are that the EV battery started the whole conflagration. The quick-thinking driver saved a bigger mess by dropping the piggybacked trailer from the rest of the rig the second he noticed the smoke.
What Pat also points out in his breakdown of this fire is that there are no haz-mat warning placards on the trailer, which would have alerted the responding crews to the possibility of toxic fumes and explosive materials inside the trailer, even though everything was listed correctly on the manifest.
He says the only thing that saved the first responders from a rush of poisonous gases as they opened the trailer was the fact that the flames had burnt through the roof, allowing those to be vented.
It could have been deadly otherwise.
Sharp-eyed commenters on the local Pittsburgh TV station's post about the fire were asking the same question - where were the DOT hazmat placards?
It turns out, Pat discovered, that while lithium-ion batteries are rated as a class-9 miscellaneous hazard (kind of a catch-all category) - and this bill of lading correctly reflected that - there is no legal requirement to have that rating posted on the back of the truck as a warning.
Wild, huh?
As he says, if the bill of lading is incorrectly filled out or on fire in the cab, those first responders opening the rear of the trailer have no idea if they are going to see furniture in flames or be blown backward by an explosive mix of flames and toxic gases.
This is a recurring problem with trucks carrying those batteries, and those warning placards need to be on the rear doors.
In October of last year, outside of Philadelphia, a Big Lots truck burst into flames and shut down a state highway for hours.
The number of fires globally is staggering, and first responders have a right to be prepared for what they'll face.
More than 198,000 lithium-ion battery fires have happened globally since 2011, according to multi-source data estimates.
Between 2017 and 2022, the US recorded over 25,000 lithium-ion battery fire incidents, with New York alone recording over 800 since 2022. The risks are clear - but no part of the lithium pipeline is immune.
Exact real-time fire tallies are incomplete, but over 50 million EVs now travel the world's roads. Their volatile lithium batteries are a source of endless fears over thermal runaway fires. Electric vehicles are all powered by the highly complex and resource-heavy technology of lithium-ion batteries.
Lithium battery fires burn at intense temperatures between 1,000°C and 2,760°C. Because they chemically generate their own oxygen, small/conventional fire extinguishers fail against thermal runaway. Firefighters must use thousands of litres of continuous water spray purely for thermal cooling.
To be precise, the majority of lithium fires stem from smaller consumer electronics, e-bikes, and improper waste disposal rather than EVs. Yet when a failure occurs - whether through mechanical puncture, overcharging or high heat - the result is thermal runaway...
Pat's pushing for what he calls a Class 10 placard - a high-energy hazmat warning sign- because, as he rightly points out, lithium-ion batteries don't behave like anything else in those shipments. In this instance, westbound I-70 was fully closed for four and a half hours.
And what the responders had to do to move the car battery safely out, and then the pallets of vape pens - things like a dumpster, loads of sand, a skid steer, etc. - are measures that would be able to already be rolling to the scene if placards had warned the firecrews they would possibly be needed.
Safety is the foremost concern, and with the abundance of these batteries in every size, shape, and form spread across the transportation landscape, I would think these Class 10 placards would be an easy first fix.
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