Olathe garbage truck fire blamed on improperly disposed lithium ion battery
OLATHE, Kan. — A spokesperson for the City of Olathe says a lithium ion battery is behind the fire that damaged one of their garbage trucks last week.
They’re saying it’s a good reminder to not put those items, like rechargeable electronics, into the trash.
At Olathe’s Household Hazardous Waste Drop-off (open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday, free to residents of Johnson County, Kansas) Supervisor Grant Tarr says people need to understand risks of throwing certain things in the trash.
“Lithium poses the biggest risk because of thermal runaway,” Tarr said.
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“Power tools, your computer batteries, these little guys that most people don’t think of in your key fobs and hearing aids,” he said. “One little battery for your key fob can cause a fire instantly.”
“So we’ll basically start to douse it, we’ll start to separate it to make sure we get all the heat. And it’s kid of just a slow dirty process,” Captain Mike Hall with the Olathe Fire Department said, describing fighting the trash fire shown in images released by the city.
The strategy was to advise the driver to dump the load near a fire hydrant but away from people and buildings.
The debris has since been cleaned-up except for some multi-colored sludge still clinging to the ground, almost acting as a warning.
“It seems like everything now has some sort of rechargeable component to it,” Hall said.
“If you’ve got a rechargeable battery and it starts to have a little bit of an odor, maybe it gets hot, it discolors, it turns a little yellow, brown, whatever, just make sure you stop using that and then dispose of it properly,” Halls said.
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That trash truck was not a a complete loss but only because of the quick work of the driver, an Olathe spokesperson said.
For more information on how to dispose of Lithium Ion Batteries, click here for Olathe information and click here for Jackson County information.
