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Ask the Builder: Lithium batteries are all around you — and they can catch fire
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Sep 29, 2023Charging lithium-ion battery may have caused Altamonte Springs house fire, owner says
Nov 01, 2024Troy Campbell, Reporter
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – A homeowner thought he got a great deal on a remote control car at a flea market. Now he thinks the lithium-ion battery may have caused a fire.
David Tolbert showed News 6 the damage after a fire Sunday evening, believed to have started from a lithium-ion battery charging in his laundry room.
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Tolbert said he and his family had been out for dinner when they returned to a blocked-off street filled with emergency vehicles.
“We were out to eat Sunday evening, came home, and all of a sudden, stop sign to stop sign, the whole road is blocked,” Tolbert said.
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Investigators from Seminole County believe the fire was sparked by a lithium-ion battery. He explained he had bought a used remote control car from a flea market in Mount Dora, thinking he’d found a great deal.
“I never used the battery,” Tolbert said. “For me, it was the first time I was even using it.”
The Seminole County Fire Department says it responded to 20 lithium-ion battery fires between April and August alone.
Authorities in Seminole County are now cautioning residents to use only compatible chargers, especially when dealing with secondhand products.
“As soon as I said lithium-ion battery, he was like, ‘yup, I can see it now,’” Tolbert said.
Tolbert admitted that he’d heard of incidents involving lithium-ion batteries but never thought it would happen to him.
“I’ve watched the clips from you guys before, but you don’t think it’s going to happen to you. I was like, well, it’s not a skateboard, it’s not a car, it’s just a little battery,” he said.
Following a recent investigation by News 6, which revealed there were no state fire codes for lithium-ion battery storage, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law in May allowing the state fire marshal to establish new safety standards to prevent battery-related fires.
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ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla.