FDNY should take particular care with e-bike battery hearth smoke that could be as harmful as 9/11 toxins, says union chief

Thick smoke and gases launched by burning e-bike and scooter batteries might be as harmful because the toxins that swirled round Floor Zero after 9/11 or the navy’s burn pits in Afghanistan, says an FDNY union that desires extra finished to guard firefighters from the blazes.

As a result of metropolis firefighters battle a median three lithium-ion battery fires every week, higher protocols are wanted to make sure cleansing of bunker coats, air tanks and respirators lined by smoke residue from the blazes, mentioned Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Affiliation.

Ansbro fears publicity to gases and residue from burning heavy metals in e-bike batteries might trigger most cancers and different long-term well being issues for members of his union.

“Now we have to begin trying on the firefighters’ gear,” Ansbro instructed the Each day Information. The gear “needs to be decontaminated instantly after these fires happen,” he mentioned.

In 2022, e-bike and scooter batteries induced 216 fires, which resulted in 147 accidents and 6 deaths. That was greater than double the variety of such fires from 2021, when blazes brought on by e-bike batteries sparked 104 fires, 79 accidents and 4 deaths, FDNY officers mentioned.

Thus far in 2023, the variety of e-bike fires exhibits no indicators of abating. As of this week, the Fireplace Division has blamed e-bike batteries in 22 fires, 36 accidents and two deaths.

Ansbro has begun conversations with FDNY Fireplace Commissioner Laura Kavanagh to ramp up the cleansing of bunker gear after e-bike battery fires.

Ansbro hopes for a examine on the long run well being results of repeat publicity to burning lithium-ion batteries.

“We actually don’t know what the long run results of the smoke will likely be on our members,” he mentioned. “They shouldn’t be taking the soiled gear from these fires and bringing it again to the firehouse.”

“The FDNY is dedicated to working with our unions and different public security companions to make sure our members have the perfect instruments and gear accessible to do their harmful jobs safely and efficiently,” Kavanagh mentioned in an announcement to The Information.

New York firefighters’ gear is routinely cleaned — however not after each hearth, Ansbro mentioned. In different municipalities, he mentioned, bunker gear worn whereas preventing fires is instantly cleaned after firefighters are uncovered to burning chemical compounds or supplies that might be instantly harmful to life or well being.

The FDNY’s present cleansing and decontaminating insurance policies for its protecting gear exceeds nationwide requirements, an FDNY spokesman mentioned.

Metropolis firefighters are issued two units of bunker garments to put on whereas preventing fires. Every set receives an annual full-service laundering and firefighters can have their gear despatched in to be cleaned at any time. It’s really helpful that firefighters have their gear cleaned after multi-alarm blazes, FDNY officers say.

Lithium-ion batteries — widespread in rechargeable batteries utilized in electrical automobiles, laptop computer computer systems, cell telephones, and different cell units — comprise metals resembling cobalt, nickel, and manganese, that are poisonous and have been recognized to infect water provides close to landfills the place they’re discarded.

Repeat publicity to giant portions of manganese — which is used within the manufacturing of metal, and might be present in our our bodies in small quantities — might lead to lung, liver and kidney injury, in accordance with the Nationwide Institute for Occupational Security and Well being.

The Fireplace Division blames the lethal spate of e-bike battery fires on after-market substitute batteries that aren’t designed to regular security requirements.

When lithium-ion batteries catch hearth, they launch “a harmful gasoline combination” of “extremely explosive, hazardous, and carcinogenic parts,” a 2016 examine in Germany discovered.

However that’s not the most important problem firefighters face combatting lithium-ion battery blazes.

In a conventional hearth, it takes roughly three minutes for a blaze to devour the room it was sparked in, FDNY officers say.

However when one lithium-ion cell in a multi-cell battery overheats, that warmth can switch to close by cells leading to a series response often known as “thermal runaway.”

A fireplace ensuing from thermal runaway can change into extra intense and unfold faster. Particular person cells within the batteries can explode, producing an intense and violent blaze that may engulf a room inside seconds.

A lithium-ion battery blaze in a Brooklyn residence constructing on Feb. 14 unfold so quickly and was so intense that the constructing’s hearth alarms and sprinkler techniques, which have been operational, have been utterly ineffective, FDNY officers mentioned.

Ansbro mentioned a program to verify bunker gear is cleaned after each e-bike hearth is crucial and can open to door to extra frequent gear cleanings after fires during which firefighters are uncovered to different burning metals and chemical compounds.

“The time has come to begin cleansing their gear extra ceaselessly,” he mentioned. “I’m positive there are long run results to the smoke and chemical compounds that’s left on their gear after these fires.

“We wish to save our members’ lives 20 to 25 years down the road by being proactive,” he mentioned.