At about 6:13 on April 25, a resident in Wuhan caused a fire in his home due to the self-assembly and charging of batteries purchased online. After receiving the alarm, the Wuhan Fire and Rescue Command Center quickly mobilized 5 fire trucks and 30 firefighters to rush to the scene for disposal.
When the firefighters arrived at the scene, they found that the open fire had been extinguished by the householder, the room was filled with a strong pungent smell, the wall of the living room had been blackened by thick smoke, the remains of a burned electric bicycle battery were left on the ground, the TV cabinet near the battery was also burned, and a man was pouring water on the battery to cool down.
A man buys an electric car battery online to assemble and charge it by himself, causing a fire in his home. Photo / Courtesy of the correspondent
"I left it at home the night before and charged it overnight, and when I got up in the morning and unplugged it, I heard an explosion after a while, so I quickly grabbed a bucket and poured water. The man told the firefighters that the night before, he took the electric bicycle battery home to charge it, and after getting up at 6 o'clock in the morning, he unplugged the charging plug, but after a while, there was an explosion in the living room, and the battery was accompanied by thick smoke and sparks splashed around, and the living room sofa, curtains and TV cabinet were ignited. After the fire, the man immediately called for his family to evacuate and call the police, and at the same time used a bucket to catch water to extinguish the fire. During the rescue, the man suffered burns of varying degrees on his face, hands and calves. Subsequently, accompanied by his family, he was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Mr. Huang, the injured man, said that the battery that exploded and caught fire was some lithium batteries and protective board accessories that he bought online six months ago, and assembled them at home, costing a total of about 1,100 yuan. There is also an electric bicycle parking shed in the community that can be charged, and I usually take the battery home to charge it for convenience, but I didn't expect it to explode when charging at home this time. In the process of self-rescue, Mr. Huang suffered burns on nearly 30% of his body. Currently, further treatment is being received in the hospital.
Burnt online shopping assembled batteries. Photo / Courtesy of the correspondent
Electric bicycles provide convenience for ordinary people to travel, but the ensuing fire safety hazards should not be underestimated, and residential buildings have always been a high incidence of electric bicycle fires.
Jiupai News followed the firefighters in the community where the incident occurred, and it was common for residents to place electric bicycles in the corridor at will, and even less than two meters away from the electric bicycle shed, there were still residents charging with flying wires. Ms. Liu, a resident of the community, said: "We are an old community, there are only three electric bicycle sheds, the location is extremely insufficient, and it is not safe to park outside, and we hope to build more carports to solve this problem of parking and charging." ”
The Wuhan fire department said that in addition to the pain points of insufficient public charging facilities that have been mentioned, many car owners lack enough attention to the safety of electric bicycle battery electricity and lack of understanding of battery quality, which is also an important reason for the frequent occurrence of electric bicycle fires. According to the statistical analysis of the National Fire and Rescue Administration, the main causes of electric bicycle fires include battery overcharge, battery cell failure, electrical circuit short circuit, etc. It can be seen that battery quality is particularly critical. In particular, old batteries and modified batteries that have been used for a long time have a lot of potential safety hazards. The accident was also caused by a modified battery, so both residents and sellers are strictly prohibited from illegally assembling, adding, and modifying electric bicycles and batteries.
Wuhan Fire Reminder: When residents and friends buy electric bicycles, they must choose qualified products and accessories produced by regular manufacturers. To prevent electric bicycle fires, do not modify electric bicycles without authorization, do not park or charge electric bicycles in public foyers, evacuation walkways, stairwells, and safety exits, do not charge by flying wires, and do not take batteries home for charging. When charging electric bicycles, you should choose to carry out in a specified place, such as an outdoor parking shed, etc., and reasonably plan the charging time, and do not overload charging.
Source: Jiupai News B51