FARGO (KFGO/KVRR) – The Fargo Fire Department wants to get the word out about how to tell if you have a defective lithium ion battery.
On Tuesday, a lithium ion battery started a fire in a south Fargo apartment. Residents were evacuated. The sprinkler system put the fire out.
Earlier this month, a damaged e-bike battery on a charger started on fire and caused $10,000 in damage to an apartment in north Fargo.
Fargo Fire Marshal Ryan Erickson says there are ways to determine if a battery is damaged and might pose a hazard.
“If even the outside of it got dropped or punctured or damaged, that’s reason enough right there to stop using it,” Erickson says. “As you charge batteries, you might see that they swell, that’s a sign also. If there’s excess heat from the battery, that’s one of the warning signs.”
Erickson recommends disposing lithium ion batteries at the city’s household hazardous waste facility or an electronics retailer that accepts the batteries.
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