Those little nine-volt batteries that you changed last month from your smoke detector or just keep around in drawers could post a serious fire hazard if not stored correctly says Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna. The batteries could start a fire if surrounded by the wrong items. Several house fires have been reported caused by the batteries.
“Fires have been attributed to 9-volt batteries where both the positive and negative leads have made contact with aluminum foil, a metal pen, or some type of metallic object. All you need is for a metal object like steel wool a paper clip, pen short out across the top of a 9 Volt battery and ignite paper or other easily ignited materials and you’ll have a potential disaster in your home. It doesn’t take much to heat a metallic object or cause a spark in order to start a fire says Chief DiGiovanna.”
Make sure your nine-volts are separated if they are out of their packaging. Another tip is to cover the tops of your nine-volts with electrical tape to make sure that the tops of them never touch.
Contact your local fire department for additional information and visit: www.nfpa.org/…/Safety%20tip%20sheets/9voltBatterySafety.pdf
Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna
