Researchers have long known that high electric currents can lead to "thermal runaway" – a chain reaction that can cause a battery to overheat, catch fire, and explode.
Can a battery cause a fire?
An ordinary alkaline battery in normal use in your home is unlikely to catch fire spontaneously. However, if a battery is kept in a device for too long, it may leak the contents and this could potentially start a fire. You might also short circuit a loose battery to cause a fire. There are some safety concerns when it comes to batteries and fire.
It can be very hard to identify how and when a lithium-ion battery may catch fire, but there are some preventative measures to minimise the risk of lithium-ion battery fires: Only use batteries purchased from a reputable manufacturer or supplier.
What happens if a lithium-ion battery fire breaks out?
When a lithium-ion battery fire breaks out, the damage can be extensive. These fires are not only intense, they are also long-lasting and potentially toxic. What causes these fires? Most electric vehicles humming along Australian roads are packed with lithium-ion batteries.
A battery will only explode if it gets hot enough inside the battery to ensure that the contents expand so much that they rip through the battery casing.
Are lithium-ion batteries exploding in California fires?
One of the biggest cleanup challenges from the Southern California fires is lithium-ion batteries, which can explode after damage or exposure to heat. The batteries are found in electric vehicles, which abounded in some burned neighborhoods, including Pacific Palisades.
At a certain level, the chemical reaction creates thermal runaway, causing rapid overheating and quickly affecting adjacent cells. Batteries will spontaneously ignite, burning at extremely high temperatures of between 700◦c and 1000◦c, and releasing dangerous off gases that in enclosed spaces can become a flammable vapour cloud explosion (VCE).