Streetsboro trash truck fire sparked by crushed lithium-ion battery

PORTAGE COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) - Firefighters are stressing the importance of proper lithium-ion battery disposal after a trash truck caught fire in Streetsboro this week.

Police dash camera footage captured around 4 a.m. Tuesday shows a massive pile of burning trash in the 11000 block of Aurora-Hudson Road.

According to the Streetsboro Fire Department, the trash hauler had dumped the burning compacted garbage onto the surface of a parking lot after noticing the contents of the truck was on fire.

After extinguishing the blaze, firefighters began sifting through the smoldering debris and found “the remains of a lithium-ion battery from a mini-generator that had been crushed.”

“This caused thermal runaway that, in turn, caught the contents of the trash truck on fire,” the fire department said Friday in a Facebook post.

Rumpke Waste & Recycling issued a safety warning this week after an illegally discarded oxygen tank recently caused an explosion inside of a residential garbage truck in Franklin County.

The Whitehall Police Department called the Jan. 29 explosion a “senseless act” and said waste services employees involved were not seriously injured.

“This is an extremely dangerous situation that the industry is encountering far too often,” said Bridgett Biggs, corporate safety manager, Rumpke Waste & Recycling. “We continue to see residents and businesses incorrectly place flammable items like propane tanks, oxygen tanks and lithium-ion batteries in waste and recycling containers, resulting in truck and facility fires.”

Biggs said drivers are trained to look for flammable items during collection but bagged garbage often makes it impossible to see everything collected.

“It is important that residents understand that not everything can be discarded in curbside trash and recycling containers,” Biggs said.

According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, lithium-ion batteries should never be placed in trash or recycling curbside containers or dumpsters because they pose a fire risk if they become damaged or crushed during transportation or sorting.

Fires can also occur if the batteries come in contact with each other or with other metals, so the Ohio EPA recommends placing tape on the ends of batteries or placing each battery in its own separate plastic bag to prevent sparking before being taken to separate recycling or household hazardous waste collection points.

In addition to lithium-ion batters, Rumpke said propane tanks, automotive fluids, smoke detectors, appliances containing Freon, poll chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers should not be discarded curbside.

Rumpke said residents should contact their local solid waste districts to find options for disposal of these items.