Fire officials in North Adams are blaming an early afternoon apartment fire in North Adams Thursday on an overheated Lithium-Ion battery. These batteries have been proven to be problematic, and are the primary power source for many items that you may use in your home on a daily basis.
According to a post on the North Adams 911 Facebook page, the North Adams Fire Department, North Adams Police Department, and Northern Berkshire EMS responded to the scene after receiving several calls from the Mohawk Forrest Apartments about smoke coming from an apartment there.

 

Photo: Nick Mantello (used with permission)
Photo: Nick Mantello (used with permission)
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Thermal Runaway...

The amount of damage done was kept to a minimum as upon arrival, firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the fire. Officials suspected that the fire was caused by a Lithium-ion Battery Thermal Runaway. This occurs when the temperature of the battery rises extremely quickly and then the energy stored in the battery is suddenly released.

 

Photo: Nick Mantello (used with permission)
Photo: Nick Mantello (used with permission)
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(Above: Damage done by the Lithium-Ion battery Thermal Runaway)

Lithium-Ion batteries are used in many items you own...

Lithium-Ion batteries are used in many everyday items such as cellphones, tablets, and other hobby units. You may recall a recent warning from the Cheshire Fire Department about the danger of charging E-Bikes and E-Scooters unattended because they too use these Lithium-Ion batteries. They have been blamed on many structure fires in recent years. Fire officials warn that you should never leave a charging battery unattended.
Luckily this fire only caused minimal damage compared to what could have been if not for the quick phone calls from the local residents and the response time of the fire department. There were no injuries as a result of the fire.
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Here are more photos of the fire scene:

All the photos were taken by Nick Mantello, the official photographer of the North Adams Fire Department. All photos were used with his permission.

 

Nick Mantello
Nick Mantello
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Nick Mantello
Nick Mantello
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Nick Mantello
Nick Mantello
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Nick Mantello
Nick Mantello
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Nick Mantello
Nick Mantello
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Nick Mantello
Nick Mantello
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Nick Mantello
Nick Mantello
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