Recording & Summary MBF Webinar - FSRI research overview on lithium-ion battery fire and explosion hazards in residential and transportation settings
This webinar provided a detailed overview of current research into lithium-ion battery fire and explosion hazards in residential, transportation, and electric vehicle settings. It brought together experimental findings from the UL Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) to better understand how lithium-ion battery incidents develop, how they differ from conventional fires, and what implications they have for fire safety engineering, emergency response, and future battery integration in confined environments.
Missed it? Here are some key takeaways!
Lithium-ion battery fires grow significantly faster than conventional residential fires, reducing escape times from minutes to seconds
Thermal runaway releases large quantities of flammable gas, creating both fire and explosion hazards
Explosion risks are especially concerning in enclosed spaces such as garages, basements, trains, and potentially maritime battery rooms
Even relatively small battery systems can generate enough pressure to damage structures and compromise fire protection barriers
Residential sprinklers were shown to dramatically reduce fire spread and room damage during battery fire incidents
Certified battery products and public awareness campaigns can significantly reduce both the frequency and severity of incidents
Electric vehicle fires were found to have similar peak heat release rates and burn durations compared to internal combustion engine vehicles, although battery involvement changes fire behavior
Vehicle size, ignition location, and construction details influence fire growth more than simply whether the vehicle is electric or gasoline-powered
Battery thermal runaway gases can rapidly fill transportation spaces with smoke and hazardous conditions within seconds
Current suppression strategies focus primarily on cooling neighboring cells to prevent propagation, as cells already in thermal runaway cannot be stopped directly
Research into damaged, defective, and recalled battery transport showed that containment materials reduce risk but are not a complete solution for explosion hazards
The findings highlight the need for careful engineering, ventilation design, fire protection strategies, and emergency planning when integrating lithium-ion batteries into enclosed or hard-to-evacuate environments such as ships and public transport systems
