ORLEANS — At first, Karen Simpson wondered if the text alert had been a mistake. At 7:17 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29, the alarm in her hair salon said it had detected heat and smoke, but when she looked at the feed from her security camera, she saw no signs of a fire. A few minutes later, she received a second notification. This time, when she checked her camera, she could barely see the shop’s floor through a thick cloud of smoke.
The blaze, which began in the Idle Times Bike Shop on the first floor at 29 Main St., tore through the structure quickly. That was likely because lithium batteries were involved, according to Orleans Fire Chief Geof Deering. “The batteries give off a lot of energy when they burn,” Deering said; that’s why “lithium battery fires grow more quickly than typical fires,” he added.
Deering told the Independent that firefighters arrived within five minutes of the 7:22 a.m. alarm and knocked out the fire a few minutes later. Deering’s crew received aid at the scene from Eastham, Brewster, Chatham, Harwich, and Yarmouth. Meanwhile, firefighters from Wellfleet and Hyannis provided coverage in Orleans.
No one was inside the building when the fire broke out, and no one was injured. Twelve electric bicycles were removed from the building that afternoon and placed in a dumpster marked “evidence” in the front parking lot.
In spite of his department’s quick response, Deering said, the bike shop was “completely gutted” by the flames by the time the fire was out. The three other businesses in the building — Simpson’s hair salon, the rental service WeNeedAVacation.com, and the office of Connecticut-based financial adviser Jeffrey Cowling — were damaged by smoke but remained structurally sound, according to Deering.
Bike shop owner Peter Noble-Cass, who also owns the Idle Times Bike Shop in Eastham, said he did not want to comment on the fire, but said that all 12 of his electric bikes had received safety certifications from UL (previously Underwriters Laboratories), a private safety firm headquartered in Illinois. He recommended not storing electric bicycles inside one’s home, even certified models — there’s always a chance that something could go wrong, he said, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Thermal Runaways
While an investigation into the fire has not yet been completed, Jake Wark, the public information officer for the Mass. Dept. of Fire Services, said that the lithium batteries were the “most likely cause” of the fire, based on where inspectors determined the fire had started — right where the bicycles were stored.
Wark said the blaze probably began as the result of what’s called a “thermal runaway,” which happens when a lithium-ion cell produces heat faster than the heat can dissipate. Common causes of thermal runaway include internal short-circuits, high external temperatures, and overcharging a battery.
In the case of the fire that began at the bike shop, it’s unclear what caused the initial thermal runaway, Deering said, but the first battery that caught fire undoubtedly triggered subsequent runaways in the lithium-ion batteries present in nearby bicycles and power tools.
Even though the building remains structurally sound, Deering said, it will be a while before tenants can reopen their businesses. That’s because smoke damage from lithium-ion fires is more dangerous than that of other fires: lithium-ion batteries release hydrogen fluoride, a tissue-penetrating acid that can be absorbed into the body by ingestion, inhalation, or skin or eye contact, according to a presentation posted on the Nantucket town website by that town’s deputy fire chief, Timothy Vamosi.
When Simpson entered her shop after the fire, she said, she found it blackened by soot. “I couldn’t save a thing because of the smoke,” she said. “Thirty-five years of memories, gone.”
Batteries Everywhere
The fire at 29 Main St. is just one of a growing number of fires associated with lithium-ion batteries in Massachusetts in recent years. In October 2023, the Mass. Dept. of Fire Services launched a new investigation checklist meant to gather information on equipment present at the scenes of fires, including laptop computers, cell phones, battery chargers, and toys like drones and remote-control cars. In the six months following the checklist’s implementation, fire departments across the state identified 50 fires as the result of lithium-ion batteries, more than double the previous annual statewide average of 19.4.
“We knew anecdotally that lithium-ion batteries were involved in more fires than the existing data suggested,” State Fire Marshal Jon Davine wrote in a press release about the checklist. “In just six months, investigators using this simple checklist have revealed many more incidents than we’ve seen in previous years.”
Lithium-ion batteries have become increasingly common since their introduction in 1991. And, Deering says, he’s seen growing concern over their safety, especially in cities where more people use scooters and electric bicycles.
Now, “anything you charge probably contains a lithium-ion battery,” Deering said. “As with any device out there, there’s going to be a small number that are defective. People should be aware that fires are a possibility.”
A burning odor, a change in color, and a marked increase in temperature are usually the warning signs of a thermal runaway, according to Deering. When that happens, it’s important to stop using the battery immediately and contact the local fire department.
To reduce the risk of lithium-ion fires, Deering says consumers should be careful to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and use batteries only with the products they’re designed for. Additionally, he says, devices containing lithium-ion batteries should be plugged in only while actively charging.
