LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Lithium battery fires are extremely difficult to put out and can last for hours or even days. In recent months, two have closed major highways in and around Nevada. Lithium battery fires on Interstate 15 and Interstate 95 have sparked discussions about battery transportation and regulation.

Lithium batteries power everything from electric vehicles to cell phones, and batteries of all sizes have caused fires. FOX5 reported that an electric bike started a house fire in Arizona, a vape pen exploded at a New Jersey mall, and a lithium-ion battery was responsible for a workshop fire electric bike repair shop that killed four people in New York.

“Here at NDEP, we are currently developing new regulations regarding lithium-ion batteries,” shared Cierra Peters with Nevada Division of Environmental Protection guest speaker at a recent School Safety Committee meeting from the Nevada Department of Education during a discussion about lithium. -ionic batteries.

“How big is the problem we face in schools? asked Peters.

Last December, a fire at a CCSD storage building near Flamingo and McLeod was caused by an exothermic reaction from lithium batteries.

For Nevada schools, vape pens pose a major safety issue.

“Vape pens contain lithium-ion batteries… they are considered hazardous waste,” Peters explained.

In 2019, Austin Adams, then aged 17, was using an e-cigarette at his home in Ely when it exploded, fracturing his jaw and causing him to lose several teeth. Educators say they are constantly taking devices away from children.

“If at Elko High School, where we only have 1,400 kids and I take four, five, six a day, God only knows in one school there are 3,500…I think that the most recent youth I saw was a fifth grader,” shared CJ Anderson, Superintendent of Schools for the Elko County School District.

“I talked with a few schools…they called here and told me they had a whole raffle filled with about 30 to 40 vape pens,” Peters reported.

While having a large number of devices poses a danger to schools, it also goes against state regulations.

“It’s difficult because if you collected more than 2.2 pounds, you would be held responsible as a large generator,” Peters revealed. Educators asked how to dispose of their unwanted waste, with one even suggesting schools should be given special containers. Throwing lithium batteries in the trash isn’t an option, but it’s something many people do anyway.

“When they get into a garbage truck, it compacts it, so we’ve had several landfill fires and garbage truck fires that way. That was a big problem too,” Peters described.

A fire broke out at the Republic recycling plant north of the Vegas Valley in September 2021. The cause is believed to be a lithium battery. The best way to get rid of unwanted batteries is not just a question that concerns Nevada schools, but also everyone who no longer wants them.

“How do we recycle these batteries? Is this correct? Is this incorrect? In the industry as a whole, not just in Nevada but around the world, there really isn’t an efficient way to recycle lithium-ion batteries,” Peters said.

According to Peters, the NDEP has proposed changes to Nevada’s hazardous waste regulations. It will be up to the National Environment Commission to approve them on November 19.

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