Industry News

A recent post by the Fire Safety Research Institute on LinkedIn raised a safety point concerning lithium batteries, especially in the run-up to Christmas. Here at FASS we feel this is incredibly important to share, please take a moment to read:

With the approaching holiday shopping season, many consumers will be purchasing lithium-ion battery-powered devices without an understanding of potential fire risks. This is a critical time to ensure members of the public know safety tips and precautions to project their loved ones. We are calling on the fire service and other community influencers to watch and share our new PSA to educate the public on ways to Take C.H.A.R.G.E. of Battery Safety. Access this video and additional free resources to share the messages at batteryfiresafety.org.

A recent article published by Warren Spencer caught our eye at Fire and Safety Solutions Ltd (FASS) as it highlights the responsibility Property Managers have towards tenants with regards to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the FSO). In summary it is the property managers responsibility to ensure the FSO is fully adhered to and this is not devolved down to tenants regardless of whether a management fee arrangement is in place or not.

 Here at FASS we can work with Property Managers and Landlords to fully understand and adhere to all aspects of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the FSO) for their specific properties and tenant arrangements to ensure that not only are they compliant, but more importantly occupiers of the building are safe. For further information on Fire Risk Assessments please click here and for general information on how FASS can help you, please get in touch.

The original full article appears below or can be viewed on Warren Spencer’s website here.

A manager of a block of flats, who appealed an enforcement notice issued by the fire service on the basis that he was not responsible for the flat doors or the fire alarm system, has had his appeal dismissed by a Cheshire court.

David Jones, a freehold owner and manager of a converted mill containing 8 flats in Macclesfield, Cheshire, had appealed an enforcement notice served upon him by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service in July 2022.

The notice had required Mr Jones to rectify breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the FSO) in relation to the compartmentation of the building; the electrical installation; risk assessment; fire alarm; emergency lighting; and the safety of exit routes. He had also been required to co-operate and coordinate with the leaseholders within the premises to ensure compliance with the FSO.

Mr Jones had appealed the notice on the basis that he did not have access to the properties to which the notice related. He stated that he was not able to enter the leaseholders flats to install a fire alarm and that he was not responsible for their flat doors. He outlined that the leaseholders each paid £30 per month as a management fee, but this did not cover the fire safety provision in the premises. He stated that his role was only to manage the building structure and common areas.

Warren Spencer, solicitor for Cheshire FRS, told the court that the fire service had written to Mr Jones requesting copies of the various leases held with the leaseholders. Mr Jones had stated that he did not have copies of the leases. Mr Spencer showed Mr Jones a copy of a lease provided to CFRS by one of the flat owners, which contained clauses outlining that he, as the landlord did have access to the properties provided appropriate notice was given, and that he as the building manager and freeholder of the property, was responsible for the fire safety provision in the premises.

Mr Jones replied that he was unaware of the fine detail contained in the lease.

Fire safety inspector Jean Parr told the court that she had decided to issue the notice after carrying out a fire safety audit of the premises. During the audit and inspection she had found various breaches of compartmentation within the premises, no emergency lighting, loose banister rails with missing spindles on the escape route and no external handrail for steps leading from the entrance/exit. She explained that the premises did not contain an appropriate fire alarm system and that the fire risk assessment carried out by Jones was not suitable and sufficient and did not comply with article 9 of the FSO.

Station Manager Carl Rainbird told the court that Mr Jones had identified himself as the freeholder of the building and as a result of the lease showing that he was the building manager, he was responsible for the control of the common parts of the building. SM Rainbird told the court that he was satisfied that the notice had been correctly drafted and issued to the right person, namely Mr Jones.

District Judge John McGarva said that Jones had given the impression of trying to “wash his hands of any responsibility”. The Judge was satisfied that there had been numerous breaches of the Fire Safety Order and that Jones was the responsible person for the premises. He found that he was satisfied that the flats did not have fire doors at their entrances, and that this was Mr Jones responsibility, as it impacted upon the common areas which were part of the escape routes.

DJ McGarva found that he was satisfied that the existing fire alarm was inadequate and that although individual flat owners had their own responsibilities, it was necessary for the person responsible for the common areas to also take action. He said that he was also satisfied that Jones had not cooperated with the flat owners to ensure the collective safety of the residents and had shown a disregard for his obligations and sought to avoid any responsibility.

DJ McGarva stated that the issuing of the notice had been entirely proper and that the appeal must fail.

He ordered Jones to pay the £4199 costs incurred by the fire service.

 

As we have recently covered on our website, where ever there are Lithium-ion batteries in use, especially within public spaces or commercial buildings, it is essential to ensure that the correct type of fire extinguisher is available should a fire break out.

A recent video further highlights just how intense the fire from a Lithium-ion battery can be. Shown here was a fire that started from an e-Bike in The Ilac, which quickly erupts with ferocity that could potentially be a significant danger to anyone near by.

High powered lithium-ion devices such as e-Scooters and e-Bikes are quite common now, so where these devices are stored and charged, extra consideration should be given to ensuring that the correct type of extinguisher is available. Lithium-ion is a Class B fire, so a standard ABC or Dry Powder fire extinguisher should be used.

FASS are able to supply a full range of Dry Powder extinguishers which are fully commissioned and therefor insurance approved for your building, on both traditional red colour or chrome, gold or bronze finishes (Contempo range). In addition we also offer full fire safety training courses so your staff are trained in how to safely use and extinguisher a fire with an extinguisher.

For full details of these services or any other aspect of FASS services, please get in touch.

At FASS we recently read an article by Construction Enquirer that we felt contained important information worth sharing with our clients.

For the full article please see: https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2022/08/25/trade-body-besa-sounds-urgent-warning-over-fire-dampers/

In summary: The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has issued an urgent warning after annual inspections carried out by maintenance contractors found a potential safety weakness in a large number of building ventilation systems due to the incorrect installation of fire dampers.

BESA Head of technical Graeme Fox said that many did not comply with manufacturers’ instructions and needed remedial action “without delay”.

Fox said: “We have been alerted to the very dangerous practice of using self-drilling ‘tek’ screws which do not melt when temperatures rise during a building fire.

“This means spring-loaded dampers will not be released to contain the spread of fire within the zone and ensure the integrity of the fire stopping measure.

“Dampers must be secured by fusible fixings that allow the duct to break away otherwise the collapsing duct could pull the damper out of place and break the seal between the fire zones.

“While this is clearly a very worrying situation, we can take some reassurance from the fact that this problem is being brought to our attention by the increasing frequency of fire damper inspections and tests as awareness grows of this extremely important issue.

“We would urge contractors to alert their clients immediately so all the necessary checks and repairs can be carried out.”

For further information, please contact us.

At FASS, we have covered in a couple of news updates the dangers of lithium batteries in terms of a fire and/or explosion risk if they are not stored correctly, or protected from impact and damage or used in inferior quality items. The resulting fire can be truly catastrophic even from a relatively small battery.

Our attention was drawn to a recent article posted by ERI online which looks at the other end of the scale, the 5 largest known Lithium Battery fires in the USA to date (March 2022) which really illustrates the intensity and destructive power caused by these fires.

It is therefor extremely important to follow these key steps:

• Only buy devices from an authorised or legitimate dealer, do not be tempted by inferior replica products that may be cheaper
• Always follow correct usage and storage guidance for Lithium Batteries
• In Public buildings, offices, care homes, schools etc it is always good practice to ensure you have the correct extinguisher medium (i.e. NOT water for lithium batteries!) available for the devices you have. FASS are happy to advise you of this
• When your device or battery reaches the end of it’s life, always recycle the Lithium Ion Batteries responsibly. Check with your local authority for the location of suitable recycling facilities

Here are the 5 largest Lithium Ion Battery fires in the USA to date as listed by ERI Online:

Royal Waste Services in Jamaica, New York

One of the biggest fires ever was a five-alarm fire in Jamaica, New York. A lithium-ion battery sparked a blaze that brought much of the Long Island Rail Road system to a halt for ten hours. Clouds of black smoke overtook the region as hundreds of firefighters battled the fire.

What caused the plant’s fire? It turned out that a single lithium-ion battery sparked trash, piles of paper, and cardboard recycling, and wind gusts of up to 37 mph added to the problems firefighters faced. It took close to a full day to extinguish the fire. Power lines that were affected by the fire had to be replaced.

Superior Battery in Morris, Illinois

An abandoned paper mill in Morris, Illinois, caught fire in 2021, leading to the evacuation of more than 1,000 homes. The owner of the building was storing lithium batteries he planned to use to start a solar power company called Superior Battery. It’s believed that water leaking in from the roof, sparked a battery to ignite, and things steamrolled from there.

More than 200,000 lithium batteries were in the building, creating a chain reaction of battery explosions that added to the initial battery fire. City officials and firefighters were unaware lithium ion batteries were stored in the building, so they first battled the fire with water, which is dangerous and made things worse.

Because water is ineffective for putting out large-scale lithium ion battery fires, over 1,000 pounds of a dry chemical known as Purple-K was used, but that didn’t help extinguish the growing fire. Instead, dry cement was pumped in to cover the burning batteries to a depth of three feet.

Governor Pritzker was forced to declare a disaster due to this fire. The building’s owner hadn’t yet notified the city of the batteries in the building, nor had he filed business permits. Plus, he didn’t have insurance putting the responsibility of the cost of putting out the fire and evacuations on the taxpayers’ shoulders. In August, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against Superior Battery hoping to get some money to lower the burden on taxpayers.

 

Felicity Ace Burns in the Atlantic Ocean

In February 2022, a ship sailing from Germany to the USA caught fire. On that ship were around  4,000 vehicles from Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, and Volkswagen. While the cause of the fire is yet unknown, many of the cars onboard were EVs, and their lithium-ion batteries posed a threat for reignition. All crew escaped the ship and reported that the smoke was coming from burning vehicles, raising questions if an EV car’s battery sparked the blaze.

Crews fought the blaze for weeks before the ship sank off the coast of the Portuguese Azores in what is essentially no man’s land. Despite the ship’s final resting spot sitting outside of Portugal’s jurisdiction, the Portuguese military has been monitoring the ocean for pollution as the thousands of vehicles had more than 4,000 tons of fuel and oil combined.

 

Shoreway Environmental Center in San Carlos, California

A four-alarm fire broke out at South Bayside Waste Management Authority’s Shoreway Environmental Center back in 2016. It took 79 firefighters several hours to put the fire out. A few days later, a second fire occurred. No one was injured in either blaze, but the facility did experience water and smoke damage that took three months to correct and kept the facility from being able to operate as normal.

During that time, some of the workers had to be laid off for a few months . Insurance rates for the facility drastically increased, driving up prices for area residents. One thing the facility’s general manager made clear after is that area residents need to be very careful when it comes to recycling. Batteries cannot go into trash or recycling bins. When consumers do this, a small amount of damage is all it takes for a lithium battery to explode and start a fire.

 

Vistra Energy’s Facility in Moss Landing, California

Vistra Energy is the world’s largest battery storage facility for storing solar and wind energy. The risk of combustion from overheating is higher, especially if the batteries are damaged in some way. This is exactly what happened at Vistra Energy. While systems prevented the battery storage facility from going up in flames, the fact that even a few packs melted is concerning.

Back in September, the 300 megawatt facility shut down when several overheating battery packs melted and triggered the fire suppression system to kick in. About 7,000 batteries were soaked by the system and damaged in the process. The company shut down the 300 megawatt facility, but a smaller 100 megawatt facility was still in operation at the site.

On February 13th, that smaller facility experienced a second incident. Again, it’s believed that water hoses leaked and damaged some of the facility’s battery packs. It was especially concerning as the company was about to reopen the 300 megawatt facility. Those plans have since been scrapped until the facility can figure out how to prevent additional meltdowns if there are hose leaks. While the fire suppression system worked effectively both times, there are fears about what could happen if the systems failed and hundreds of these batteries exploded.

For further information on the correct extinguishers for Lithium Ion Batteries or advice on your Fire and Safety needs, please contact us.