A fire at a lithium battery factory has claimed at least 22 lives.
The fire at the South Korean factory owned by battery maker Aricell took place in the city of Hwaseong, near Seoul, on Monday, according to The New York Times. In addition to the 22 people killed, one worker was missing while eight were injured.
Kim Jin-young, an official with the Hwaseong Fire Department, said 102 workers were in the factory when the fire broke out, according to the Times.
One battery cell caught fire, he said, leading to a series of explosions that rippled through the 35,000 battery cells stored on the factory’s second floor.
BREAKING: At least 21 people killed in fire at South Korean lithium battery plant – Yonhap pic.twitter.com/PfZItgRLr7
— BNO News (@BNONews) June 24, 2024
Lithium batteries are an essential component for electric vehicles, from bikes to trucks, but the fire risk from them has risen as their use proliferates.
Batteries from Aricell are often used to run utility networks, the Times reported.
More than 160 firefighters and 60 fire engines fought the fire.
Lithium battery fires can be stubborn to extinguish.
A fire at the Gateway Energy Storage facility near San Diego last month broke out on May 15 but was not extinguished until May 31, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Robert Rezende, Alternative Energy Emergency Response coordinator for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, said a lithium-ion battery fire is different from other blazes.
“Historically speaking, we usually tend to see a much longer period of time where this cascading damage just keeps going, almost like the domino effect,” Rezende said, according to the Union-Tribune.
San Diego Firefighters have flown in experts to the Otay Mesa Battery Storage site to study the fire because they don’t know how to extinguish it. The 🔥 has already consumed 5 million gallons of water, and firefighters estimate it will take an additional 7-10 days to control,… pic.twitter.com/sVi71XW1Vy
— Amy Reichert (@amyforsandiego) May 23, 2024
“The batteries are just going to do what they’re gonna do until they decide to stop doing it. That’s the simplest way to describe it,” he said.
In January, Seneca Insurance, citing data from UL Solutions, said that across the U.S., there have been 445 lithium-ion battery fires, 214 injuries, and 38 deaths.
E-bikes in New York City were responsible for 267 fires in 2023, 18 deaths, and 150 injuries, it reported, citing data from the Fire Department of New York.
Over the past three years, lithium-ion battery fires have been the top cause of fatal fires in New York City, according to Seneca.
