Overcharged battery causes fire

Firefighters have given their safety advice after a Lithimium-ion battery left on charge caused a fire.

The resident heard their smoke alarms going off and quickly shut the kitchen door before leaving the house and calling the Fire Service.

Two crews from Dovercourt Fire Station were called to Harcourt Avenue in Dovercourt at 7:45pm and found the kitchen was smoke logged after the battery had exploded and set fire to the kitchen cupboards and had burnt the floor.

Crews extinguished the fire and ventilated the kitchen by 8:25pm.

Crew Manager Norman Gooch said: “Be cautious when charging products with Lithium-ion batteries, never leave them charging unattended and do not overcharge them. Be mindful when buying items with Lithium-ion batteries or battery chargers that you stick to branded products from a trusted retailer as there are lots of fake products around that don’t meet the same fire safety regulations.

“Because the resident was alerted really quickly to this fire by their smoke alarms, they were able to call us quickly and we could extinguish the fire before it spread.

“We’d also like to praise the homeowner for doing the right thing and shutting doors when getting out of the house to call us.”

Do you have working smoke alarms on every level of your home?

We want every home in Essex to have working smoke alarms on every level of their home.

If you or someone you know doesn’t have working smoke alarms, we can supply them for free. Visit essex-fire.gov.uk/book for more information.

Could you be an on-call firefighter?

Firefighters attending this incident from Dovercourt are on-call firefighters who all live or work within 5 minutes of Dovercourt Fire Station and are paid to protect their community.

If you live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be an on-call firefighters. Find out more about the role and how to apply in your area at join.essex-fire.gov.uk/on-call