INDIANAPOLIS — Fire departments across Indiana are warning against the potential dangers of certain devices that could even be in your hand right now.
It’s items with lithium batteries — that includes cell phones, tablets, electric bikes and cordless tools.
Even a Hoosier firefighter fell victim to a lithium battery fire in his own home last May.
“You just never expect it to be your own house," Kendallville firefighter Casey Kintz said.
Kintz is used to answering the call for other people’s tragedies.
But when he returned home from one of his kids’ cheerleading practices, he realized he’d left an electric bike charging too long.
He found his own home in flames.
“My firefighter instinct was okay everybody’s out of the house, at least family wise. But then my son reminded me that the dogs were in the house and the way that he looked when he said it, firefighter mode went out the window and dad mode kicked in," Kintz said.
He managed to rescue all four of the family’s dogs from the second story of the home, before first responders arrived.
His wife and children were safe as well.
His house, however, had to be torn down to the studs.
“The most damage, at least with our house, was the smoke damage. There was not a lot of fire damage except for where the battery was," he said.
The culprit: a lithium battery left unattended and on the charger too long.
It’s something fire departments in Central Indiana are warning residents about.
“You need to monitor those while they’re charging. You don’t wanna leave those after they’re done. Take those off the charger," Carmel Fire Department PIO Tim Griffin said.
Griffin is seeing a rising number of lithium battery-related fires locally.
He says these types of fires pose additional dangers because they emit toxic chemicals and spread quickly.
“The fires can be toxic. They burn at really high rates. And then afterward there’s still a danger. Once that’s out, we have to find ways to dispose of those," Griffin said.
He recommends the following to keep you and your family safe:
“Working smoke detectors, have a plan with your kids, talk about if there is a fire. Having those discussions in your household will help with your batteries that catch on fire or anything else," he said.
The Kintz family is still displaced today.
They hope to be back in their home at the end of the month.
“Drywall and everything is up and we hope painting is gonna start this next week and the cabinets can get put in," Kintz said.
There is a growing need for firefighters in the Hoosier state.
More than 80% of our state’s first responders are volunteers.
Keeping the teams fully staffed ensures all families can get help when they need it most.
Kintz encourages you to consider joining a volunteer fire department like his.
