Several times a year, the waste disposal company GLØR in Lillehammer experiences fires because people do not have enough knowledge about what they can throw in the bin. Monday morning it happened again. Suddenly flames erupted in the pile of residual waste inside the sorting hall in Lillehammer. – It turned out that it was a battery from an electric bicycle that ignited, says marketing manager Elisabeth Haukaas Bjerke in GLØR to news. WARNING: Market manager Elisabeth Haukaas Bjerke at GLØR says you should never throw electrical “duppets”, which contain batteries, in the residual waste. Photo: Alexander Nordby / news The company posted a video of the fire on social media in which they also make a strong appeal to all residents: “We can’t say it enough times: ALL batteries MUST be handed in personally, to a dealer or to a recycling station. It should never be thrown in the waste container! » – It was luck, Haukaas Bjerke says that there can be very big consequences if the residual waste catches fire. In 2020, the waste disposal company in Lillehammer experienced a major fire. – Then there were damages worth millions of kroner. This time we were lucky. A driver of a wheel loader discovered the fire early and alerted the industrial protection department at our place so that the fire was extinguished quickly, she says. After extinguishing the fire in the sorting hall on Monday morning, the e-bike battery had to be placed in a large water tank to completely burn out and cool down. – Lithium batteries, such as this, are the worst. But you shouldn’t throw away any electric toys that contain batteries in the residual waste, she says. – Explosive fire The Norwegian Fire Protection Association recently issued a warning against charging e-bike batteries indoors. According to them, it is associated with danger because the lithium batteries can catch fire if they are damaged or faulty. Head of department Mari Bræin Faaberg in the Norwegian Fire Protection Association. Photo: Audun Braastad / Audun Braastad – Bicycle batteries have a lot of energy in them. If an electric bike battery were to catch fire, it would happen very quickly. You probably won’t have time to get the e-bike out of the house or to switch it off. It often becomes an explosive fire, almost like a firework, says department manager Mari Bræin Faaberg. According to the fire protection association, there are currently no good statistics for the number of fires caused by electric bicycle batteries. They still believe that there is an increasing trend. – It’s just a matter of doing a few simple searches in Google, and you see more and more cases of electric scooters and electric bikes that have caught fire. It catches fire when charging, but it can also catch fire without charging. And that’s why we’re very keen that you charge these things outdoors, says Bræin Faaberg. But not everyone has the opportunity to charge outdoors? – We understand that. What we then recommend is to have smoke alarms where you charge. Also charge in a place that is clean, dry and does not have flammable surfaces. And be awake and present. Don’t go to bed, she says. HAD TO BE COOLED: The e-bike battery that caused the fire in Lillehammer on Monday had to be placed in a large water tank to completely burn out and cool down. Photo: GLØR More expensive with insurance The many fires at various recycling facilities in Norway mean that it has become more expensive to take out insurance. We see that the sum insured has increased by several hundred percent. In addition, it is difficult to get the facility insured. We have taken many measures to prevent this from happening. But this is a huge problem for the entire industry, says Elisabeth Haukaas Bjerke.
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Here, the electric bike battery catches fire at the waste site of GLØR in Lillehammer – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
