Reposted from EMR-ISAC

In recent testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), and the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) discussed how fast fire can progress within a typical modern structure and how little time there is to escape. Today’s structure fires can go from a small flame to flashover in just 3 to 5 minutes, partly due to the synthetic materials used in modern furnishings and interior finishes. Additionally, lithium-ion batteries are becoming increasingly common household items used in consumer electronics, power tools, micromobility devices, and electric vehicles. When these batteries burn, the time from the first sign of smoke until thermal runaway and explosion can be as little as 15 seconds. Public awareness of common fire risks is critical to saving lives and drastically reducing property loss. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issues voluntary and mandatory standards that consumer products must meet to be considered safe. CPSC also directly informs and educates consumers about safety risks from products already on the market. The fire service can help by reporting unsafe products to the CPSC and by sharing CPSC’s fire safety messages with their community. Just last month, the CPSC released several alerts about consumer products posing fire hazards:

• Insignia air fryers and air fryer ovens. Best Buy has recalled more than 187,400 of its Insignia air fryers due to overheating, which could lead to fire, burn, or laceration hazards as components of the fryers may melt, break, or shatter under heat.

• Honeywell System Sensor L-series low frequency fire alarms and strobes The sounders and strobes can malfunction and cause the fire alarm system to fail to alert consumers of a fire. Honeywell is recalling about 29,000 units.

• Elide fire extinguishing balls. CPSC is warning consumers about the risk of burns and smoke inhalation associated with the use of Elide brand fire extinguishing balls. These products can fail to extinguish a fire, which could lead to serious injury and death.

• EVERCROSS EV5 Hoverboards. CPSC has received one report of a fire, resulting in substantial property damage to a residential building in New York City in May 2023. The company has not agreed to recall these hoverboards or offer a remedy to consumers. CPSC urges consumers to immediately remove the lithium-ion battery packs from the hoverboards and dispose of them following local hazardous waste disposal procedures.

Fire and public safety departments, especially code officials and anyone involved in fire prevention education, should share this information with their community through all means available. Follow CPSC’s social media feeds or sign up to receive email notifications for future product recalls and alerts. Unsafe products can be reported to the CPSC at SaferProducts.gov.

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