Latest news with #electricalfire
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Climate
- Bloomberg
Chicago Launches Flood-Warning System as Rainstorms Intensify
Nedra Sims Fears still remembers the night years ago when her family home in Chicago flooded, sparking an electrical fire. Her father woke her up and rushed her outside into the pouring rain as smoke filled the rooms of their home in the city's Chatham neighborhood. 'We could see the smoke and smell the smoke, and we literally escaped with the clothes on our back,' Sims Fears said. It was one of four floods that Sims Fears would survive throughout her adolescence. 'It's a lot for a family,' said the lifelong Chicagoan and executive director of the Greater Chatham Initiative, a community organization. 'It is just devastating.'
ABC News
06-08-2025
- ABC News
Man who lost home in battery fire builds fireproof charging station
Amid calls for regulatory changes for lithium battery disposal, one man has taken matters into his own hands to safely store devices on charge. On August 31 last year, Rodney Mulder put his laptop down and went to bed. When he woke up at 1am, his children's bedrooms were engulfed in flames. "Fortunately, my wife and kids were away that night, because [the children's bedrooms] were already on fire when I woke up," Mr Mulder said. The cause of the blaze was deemed electrical, most likely the lithium battery powering his laptop, that was on charge as it rested on a cupboard near the couch. The Mulder family home was destroyed and a fight for an insurance payout soon set in after an administrative error nearly cost them their coverage. Not three weeks later, Mr Mulder was charging an iPad and the charging cable got so hot it melted. One year on and after finally settling their claim with RAC, Mr Mulder is determined to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again. Last month, he began the build of his new home, which will contain a fireproof space dedicated to charging devices and battery-powered products that he will build himself out of fibre concrete. There are also some new house rules. Fire investigator Belinda Jane Jones says lithium batteries are seen as safe but "when they fail, they become quite violent". The managing director of Fire Forensics, a company which specialises in fire investigations, told the ABC it was often difficult to establish cause when lithium batteries were involved. "It's really hard to scientifically determine if the failed lithium battery started the fire, or if it was affected by a fire and failed subsequently," Ms Jones said. Even so, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) has counted 113 lithium battery fires so far this year, with nine in the past 12 days alone. "They contain a highly flammable material and cause intense and rapid spread of fire for our crews," DFES acting superintendent Mark Feast said. Albany District Officer Cameron Famlonga said this made it difficult to save a structure from those fires. "When a lithium-ion battery goes into thermal runaway, it does project cells and materials throughout a room," he said. And it was not only appliances on charge that could be destructive. "What's not well known is that there have been a high percentage of fires this year with batteries that have just been stored and not on charge," Mr Famlonga said. "So it's a good idea to be storing batteries in metal boxes." Waste and Recycling Industry of Western Australia CEO Michael Bobrowicz said there were about 30 fires in waste trucks and depots each week in WA. "People driving those trucks are constantly looking in their rear-vision mirror and looking for empty parking lots to potentially dump a burning load." The responsibility for battery disposal currently falls on the buyer but Mr Bobrowicz believes manufacturers need to take more responsibility for the product's full life cycle. "The number one thing we don't want to see in general waste or recycling is batteries … when they get mixed up with other waste that is when the danger occurs," Mr Bobrowicz said. The solution, he says, is extended producer responsibility, a policy framework that shifts responsibility for battery disposal from the consumer to the producer. Ms Jones and Mr Bobrowicz both say there is no clear way for consumers to dispose of batteries safely as well as limited options to dispose of batteries. For those not in a position to build a fireproof charging space, Ms Jones recommends people keep all charging devices in their line of sight and only use the charging cable that came with the product. Cheap power banks and batteries damaged by overcharging or being dropped are also repeat offenders. Consumers can also do their bit to dispose of batteries responsibly with Bunnings, Woolworths and Officeworks offering convenient drop-off locations.
CBS News
30-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
Senior citizens evacuated in hot weather after electrical fire at Philadelphia apartment complex
Residents of a senior apartment complex were evacuated on a hot evening as firefighters worked to put out an electrical fire that broke out at the complex Tuesday, officials said. It's the second electrical fire at the complex in the last five weeks. The fire broke out at the Courtyard Apartments at Riverview, on South 4th Street near Washington Avenue in Queen Village, just before 7 p.m. Tuesday. It took firefighters more than five hours to get the blaze under control. Philadelphia Second Alarmers provided rehab services to firefighters as they fought through hot and humid conditions, and SEPTA brought out a cooling bus for residents. "All my food is trashed, and I'm not reimbursed, not one nickel," resident Sam Holbrook said. "No excuses given, we tried to reach the corporate office in New Jersey, and they just put a wall up." In June, hundreds of firefighters evacuated over 200 residents from the building after an electrical fire. PECO had to shut off power for several hours. "I got the text this morning, outage undetermined," Holbrook said. "That is unacceptable, because if it happened twice, it's going to happen again." We're working to find out how many people were evacuated, if the building is still without electricity, and when things will be back to normal. A spokesperson for the American Red Cross said a temporary shelter was established at Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, but was awaiting information on whether any Riverview residents used the shelter. This is a developing story and will be updated.
RNZ News
14-07-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Suspected electrical fire at meat works building in Wellington
Fire and Emergency at the scene of a suspected electrical fire at the back of a meat works building in Ngauranga Gorge. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Fire and Emergency says it is at the scene of a suspected electrical fire at the back of a meat works building in Ngauranga Gorge in Wellington. Three fire crews were called to the facility after an alarm went off at about 10.40am. An RNZ reporter at the scene said there had been a large group of workers standing outside the building. A FENZ shift manager said they had not been advised if a fire had been put out. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CBS News
30-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
WJZ's Baltimore newsroom evacuated due to electrical fire
The WJZ newsroom in Baltimore was evacuated Monday afternoon due to an electrical fire. Baltimore City Fire quickly responded to the building on TV Hill around 3:30 p.m. The fire was out by the time crews arrived. Parts of the building were vented due to heavy smoke. The incident prompted the cancellation of our 4 p.m. newscast. No injuries were reported.
