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Comment by Zenst | Hacker News Reader

I didn't see what type of battery it has, but imagine having a non-solid state lithium based battery locked to a part of your body - anywhere. That type of device failing in an epic way with flames and no way to remove it in time - just seems like that's a latent headline just awaiting. Even worse - most people would panic and chuck water upon it. Wondering what is the safest thing to put upon a lithium based fire household McGyver wise and more go to would be flour (layer coating to starve oxygen and non conductive), or some aerosol can I can turn upside down and blast with cold non flammable gas.

Though like most as a rule of thumb - I try not to get that attached to my gadget addiction.

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Almost all aerosol cans use a flammable gas (they are cheap, have a high expansion ratio, and are low pressure liquids). Flour, sugar and other powders found in the kitchen can actually be explosive if they are mixed with air correctly (eg: when tossed onto a flame).

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is probably the only improvised item in the kitchen that you should use to put out fires. A kitchen should have a fire extinguisher that is BC or ABC that would be best for the first attempt at putting out the fire.

Even though water is not ideal, if you have a large source of it (eg: Pool, lake, firehose, etc), it will be your best option as it can cool faster than a small battery can generate heat. A garden hose or bathtub faucet might be able to supply enough water if the battery is relatively small.

Really, a kitchen should also have a type K fire extinguisher which isolates burning oil from air to prevent reignition (burning oil extinguished with an ABC dry chemical fire extinguisher is likely to reignite on its own). Unfortunately they seem rare in home kitchens, likely just due to a lack of awareness as they really aren't that expensive at the home improvement store.

Glass fiber blankets are also a good choice for kitchen fires but once again not very common in homes.

Fire extinguishers require regular inspections/refills that, I fear, many home users won’t do.

Because of that, I think the blanket, combined with a fire alarm (also requires inspections/maintenance, but will annoy you so much that you will replace the battery regularly) is the best option for kitchens.

> Fire extinguishers require regular inspections/refills that, I fear, many home users won’t do.

One of my habits is to put inspection dates for things like fire extinguishers, fire alarm batteries, emergency water, etc. into my calendar.

It's basically a quick check every quarter, with a full-on inspection during spring cleaning. Doesn't take much time, and gives me a lot of peace-of-mind that my emergency stuff is actually going to work when I need it.

On that note, something that I also don't see people doing, is making sure they know how to use their equipment for its intended task. I made it a point to try an extinguisher on a tiny fire in a safe setting, just to make sure I understood how it worked.

Ditto for always taking the stairs down whenever I leave a new hotel room. I get a little more exercise, and if there's a fire, I've already "escaped" once.

Pro tip: do not attempt to apply this advice while flying. They don't even let you keep the slide!

For (low voltage) lithium-ion batteries, water is the correct extinguishing agent. The amount of metallic lithium contained inside is minimal.

Water is easily available, safe, and most importantly, it cools the battery (important if it has multiple cells). Powder could insulate it, causing the other cells to get overheated from the burning one and join the party.

Baking soda or salt is preferable for putting out a fire. Or sand or kitty litter. Water as a last resort. Flour and baking power can be flammable

Flour is a very very bad fire retardant! It would do the opposite.

Do not put flour on fires. It’s practically explosive.

A small solid state rocket engine that is physically activated by thermal failure of the battery could be a safety feature - "In case of fire point posterior to building exterior".

smothering lithium ion battery fires doesn't work: the reaction is self-sustaining and will continue to generate heat even without oxygen (I've seen this happen: the effect is similar to trick birthday cake candles where the flames may die down but reignite again). Water is actually one of the better options, because it removes heat from the system.

I thought baking soda was the best, I keep lots of that around the house for putting out other fires.

LiFePO4 chemistry is quite safe.

An idea for William Gibsons next novel .. maybe titled Flaming neuro-romancer ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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