How can your properly use and dispose of lithium

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - For this year’s Fire Safety Week, the Baton Rouge Fire Department wants everyone to learn about how to properly own electronics and devices with lithium-ion batteries inside to avoid starting a fire.

Billy Zachary with Baton Rouge Fire says they have seen an increase in calls related to fires started by a lithium-ion battery overheating. They are found in rechargeable electronic devices like phones, drones, and electric scooters.

“Typically, what will happen is over time, a device may receive some type of impact. It could get dropped. Something could impact that battery and cause the cells within it to malfunction, and that causes the battery to begin to overheat,” Zachary said.

He says to throw out batteries that are hot to the touch or cause the charging cord