BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Some local fire departments tell 2 News Oklahoma that fires involving lithium-ion batteries are difficult to put out, and they’re happening more frequently across the Tulsa metro.
But one of them showed us a new tool they’re testing out, which they said douses those kinds of fires quicker.
WATCH: BAFD's new tool to fight lithium-ion fires
“We are seeing a great increase in these lithium-ion fires in the community, whether it's a cell phone or some other handheld device or something like that, or maybe your kid's scooter,” said Broken Arrow Fire Chief Jeremy Moore. “And we're also seeing, obviously, on electric vehicles.”
“As we're seeing more of these, we're having more and more fires,” he added, “and this product will help us extinguish those fires quicker.”
That product is called Firebane.
While it looks like your run-of-the-mill fire extinguisher, it’s a class-D fire agent that will put out a reactive metal fire as well as lithium-ion battery fires.
Spectrum FX, which makes it, told us it was initially meant for slag tractors.
Its CEO, Kent Faith, told 2 News that BAFD “is the first fire department locally” to experiment with deploying Firebane.
“We are from Tulsa,” he added, “So, Broken Arrow is the first fire department that will have our agent.”
“It is significant, and we're hoping that it will take off and be the one that will put out an electric vehicle fire,” Faith also said.
They’re testing it out with BAFD, with Firebane on board every fire engine.
“Water would react violently with lithium-ion batteries or other combustible metals,” Moore explained. “I mean, there’s a small explosion once the water hits it. So, this product will extinguish that, bring the temperatures down, and keep it from having what we call thermal runaway.”
So far, Moore told us they found a “significant increase in effectiveness” with Firebane over water.
While the chief said it saves fire crews some time, he noted that “it's not just about time.”
“It's protecting not only our firefighters,” he said, “but our citizens who are using lithium-ion batteries every single day.”
When asked if he thinks a product like this could become a standard tool for most fire departments, Moore replied, “You know, if it's successful, I think we will grow the program here in Broken Arrow, and obviously other departments will look to us for our leadership on extinguishing these lithium-ion fires.”
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