A dog has died in a structure fire caused by a lithium-ion battery overheating, KTLA reports.
The fire occurred in Venice Beach on Sunday morning (Mar. 12), and the Los Angeles Fire Department shared the news that the dog of a business owner sadly died as a result.
An Overheating Lithium-ion Battery
The blaze began at 1 19th Avenue in the Los Angeles neighborhood after a lithium-ion battery overheated, and it spread to two nearby businesses. It took 35 minutes for firefighters to extinguish the fire, with no injuries reported. They arrived to find heavy flames visible through the roof of the building.
However, with the narrow streets and limited access, local residents and members of the public were asked to avoid the area while firefighters remained on the scene.
Per LAFD spokesperson Margaret Stewart, the owner of an electric scooter store was at work with their dog at the time. They heard a popping noise right before the fire ignited.
The large number of batteries in the electric scooter store meant that it bore the brunt of the flames.
Lithium-ion batteries are generally safe, but on occasion one may catch fire. Per the New York Times, one in ten million will fail, and this is something that almost always leads to a fire.
Keeping Dogs Safe From Fires
Each year, around 40,000 pets die in fires, and this is usually down to smoke inhalation. While it’s a sad reality that fires will always occur, there are ways to keep your pets safe and minimize risk.
These include basic safety tips. For example, making sure potential hazards are out of your pup’s reach. But also, it’s worth forming an emergency plan and sharing it with anyone else in your home or place of business, if you bring your dog to work.
Take note of where your pets might like to hide or nap, too, in case you need to grab them quickly in the event of a fire.
