Firefighters tackle avoidable battery fires

24/08/2023

Firefighters from both ends of the county had a busy morning yesterday (23 August) tackling fires caused by incorrect disposal of batteries.

A crew from Cambridge was called just after 7am on Wednesday morning to a fire involving refuse from a lorry on Hauxton Road in Trumpington. Less than an hour later crews from Dogsthorpe and Stanground were called to a lorry fire in Bretton, Peterborough. Both fires were caused by batteries being discarded in household refuse.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service is urging residents to make sure they dispose of old batteries correctly, either at local shops with a battery bank or at their local recycling centre. Across the country almost half of all waste fires (48%) are caused by lithium-ion batteries, totalling more than 200 each year.

Station Commander Gareth Boyd, Community Risk Manager for the Service, said: “We have seen an increase in fires involving batteries in refuse lorries over recent months. Due to the heat generated and the crushing of the batteries during the process, the lithium in the batteries will set fire to the waste in the lorry. Our crews work with the refuse collectors to empty the vehicle to prevent the fire from spreading, but this involves significant disruption to the road network.”

“There are many places to safely dispose of batteries. Many local shops have a battery bank and recycling centres also take them. Please do not dispose of any battery types, small or large in household waste or recycling bins. These cause unnecessary and avoidable fires and put people at risk.”