Hazmat Response to Battery Incidents

Initial Operations

• Confer with Incident Commander immediately
• Determine if any individuals/occupants must be rescued or evacuated
• Minimum PPE for rescue is structure fire PPE and SCBA
• Any immediate rescue will require water decontamination

Assess, Control, Rescue, Evacuate (ACRE)

• Assess:
  • Coin Cell Ingestion: contact National Battery Ingestion Hotline (1-800-498-8666)
  • Note hazards identified by first responders
  • Identify components with elevated temperatures, LEL readings, Carbon Monoxide (CO) readings, Oxygen (O2) readings below 20.8%, fumes, odors, leaking fluids, and types of batteries involved
  • Identify technical specialists that are responding or have been requested
• Control Hazards:
  • Isolate and deny entry
  • Establish isolation and control zones based on hazards
  • Ensure use of PPE and Respiratory Protection
  • Ventilate to reduce build-up of explosive and toxic gases
  • Reduce heat stress to additional batteries/cells
• Rescue:
  • Use appropriate methods and equipment to separate unprotected personnel and civilians from hazards
• Evacuate:
  • Remove any victim(s) to an area of safe refuge
  • Provide appropriate decontamination to victims

Risk Assessment

• Consider the following:
  • Hazard(s) victims and personnel are exposed to
  • Ability of the Hazardous Materials Team and Fire/Rescue personnel to control the hazard(s)
  • Likelihood that hazard(s) will cause harm or death
  • Expected benefit of intervention

Risk Mitigation

• Refer to Specific Battery Considerations and consult current technical guides and other appropriate reference material
• Consult technical specialist where available
• Develop and communicate Incident Objectives
• Receive approval from Incident Commander to implement incident objectives
• Consult and request outside agencies to assist (i.e. MDE, County Agencies, etc.)
• Work with RP and MDE to establish and ensure a plan for disposing of damaged batteries

Battery Considerations

Primary Battery Considerations

• Disposable Alkaline:
  • Consider standard extinguishment techniques (water, dry chem, CO2)
  • Consider Alkaline (base) hazard from large quantities of these batteries
  • Consider small Mercury (Hg) hazard in pre-1990 batteries
• Disposable Lithium Metal:
  • Water may suppress small Lithium fires and lithium metal consumed in first few minutes
  • Consider Class D Agent if available – Copper Preferred, Graphite is effective
  • SODIUM CHLORIDE IS NOT EFFECTIVE

Secondary Battery Considerations

• Lead Acid Battery:
  • Meter for LEL and CO
  • Consider dry chemical for fire suppression
  • Consult SDS when possible
  • Consider neutralization for spills
• Lithium-Ion Batteries:
  • Consider allowing batteries involved in fire to burn out in a safe area
  • Extinguish visible fire with water or other appropriate extinguishing agent
  • Always ensure a charged handline or appropriate extinguishing mechanism in place when near a battery that was exposed to thermal, physical, or electrical abuse
  • Ventilate area
  • Cool adjacent battery cells with water
  • Use a thermal imager to observe battery cells
  • Consider unplugging batteries that are connected to a charger
  • Removal from inside an area to an outside space should be done with a full risk assessment

Electric Vehicle (EV) Considerations

• Evaluate the involvement of the battery pack that powers the vehicle
• Consult the manufacturer guide for the type of vehicle involved when available
• Consider non-intervention for fire involvement after appropriate risk assessment
• In the event of fire, thermal runaway, or battery pack involvement where non-intervention is not feasible:
  • Protect exposures and control any visible EV fire with water
  • Consider deploying EV fire blanket to suppress flames and reduce smoke production
  • Continuously cool battery cells involved in fire and prepare for extended water supply operation
  • Use Thermal Imager to check additional battery cells for propagation
  • Consider lifting/titling vehicle if safe to do so for direct access to battery modules for cooling
  • Consider water supply requirements
  • Perform air monitoring for flammable vapors in enclosed or partially enclosed areas

Interior Energy Storage Systems (ESS)

• Work with Incident Commander to ensure:
  • Appropriate fire suppression tactics for building involved
  • Size, number, and locations of interior ESS’s involved
  • Deny Entry and Establish Control Zones that account for the ESS
  • Accounting for explosion or additional fire hazards
• Establish air monitoring for flammable and toxic gas build-up within the area of involvement and structure
• Pay special attention to LEL and CO
• Ventilate area of involvement
• Restrict operations in an ESS hot zone to immediate life safety needs with full structural PPE and SCBA with handline protection
• Immediately contact the RP or any emergency numbers listed for the ESS facility and ensure ESS technical specialists are enroute to the scene
• Consider setting-up to provide exposure protection
• Work with Incident Commander, RP, and Technical Specialists for a mitigation plan

Exterior Energy Storage Systems (ESS)

• Isolate, Deny Entry and Establish Control Zones that account for the size of the ESS and any explosion or fire hazards
• Restrict operations in an ESS hot zone to immediate life safety needs and completed in full structural PPE and SCBA with handline protection
• Immediately contact the RP or any emergency numbers listed for the ESS facility and ensure ESS technical specialists are enroute to the scene
• Protect exposures and control any visible fire with water if appropriate
• Work with the Incident Commander, RP and Technical Specialists for a mitigation plan
• Consider contacting DPS/DGS for electrical engineer or other technical specialist assistance

Exposure Medical Care

• Patient exposed to the inhalation of smoke from a battery fire should be evaluated by the appropriate emergency medical personnel and transported to the appropriate facility
• Consult SDS when available for health information and provided to medical and hospital personnel
• In the absence of specific information for the battery involved, consult current reference material and air monitoring tables to help identify specific inhalation hazards

Decontamination

• When available, consult the SDS or a technical expert provided for each battery hazard
• Follow MCFRS Hazmat SOG – Decontamination as necessary
• At a minimum for a battery fire event, standard structural fire decontamination procedures should occur for any personnel that engage in firefighting or entry operations into a designated hot zone
• Consider technical decontamination for incidents involving corrosive contamination