The four-alarm fire that occurred at Chet’s Auto Wrecking and Scrap Yard on Page Boulevard the night of Aug. 8.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
SPRINGFIELD — A massive fire that occurred at Chet’s Auto Wrecking and Scrap Yard was possibly caused by a lithium-ion battery, but that has not been confirmed.
Fire Commissioner B.J. Calvi announced this hypothesis at a Sept. 17 meeting of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.
“We interviewed people, they didn’t see a battery but based on how the fire started in the video, the hypothesis is that there was a battery that went to ground when [firefighters] scooped the waste and turned it over,” Calvi said.
The four-alarm fire occurred on the night of Aug. 8 and lasted several hours before the majority of it was extinguished by 2 a.m. Calvi said the fire was extinguished using 4.5 million gallons of water and shared that no foam or other firefighting chemicals were used to put it out.
By Aug. 9, the entire fire was out.
“We called the hazmat team in to do what’s called tactical air monitoring on the perimeter and in the neighborhood to make sure there was no residual chemicals or any chemicals from the smoke landing in the neighborhood or being monitored in the neighborhood in gaseous form,” said Calvi, referring to the steps the Fire Department took after putting out the fire. “The neighborhoods did not have any intrusion of what’s called a volatile organic compound.”
According to lithium battery factory Redway Power, lithium-ion batteries are crucial fixtures in portable electronics, electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems. However, overheating is one of the most significant issues facing the batteries because that can lead to thermal runway, causing fire and explosions.
Although Calvi was unable to confirm this battery as the cause, he reiterated that there was no malicious intent associated with the fire.
“It was, for all intents and purposes, an industrial accident,” Calvi said.
Still, councilors are making sure that protocols and safety measures are in place to make sure an accident like this does not happen again.
During the Public Safety Committee meeting, At Large City Councilor Brian Santaniello asked Calvi if the Fire Department is keeping an eye on any potentially hazardous chemicals in Springfield.
Calvi responded by saying that Big Y and Performance Foodservice use anhydrous ammonia for their refrigerant. He noted that these companies have hazardous response plans inside their facilities to help mitigate a situation that involves a small release or spill inside the facility.
If a spill grew beyond what the initial release was, then the Fire Department and Regional Hazardous Materials Team would respond to mitigate the problem.
In the case of the scrap yard situation, Calvi said fires such as those have been known to go on for several days, but his department was able to distinguish it in six hours.
“I want to congratulate Commissioner Calvi and his team for mitigating the fire and not letting it spread throughout our city,” said Ward 5 City Councilor and Public Safety Committee Chair Lavar Click-Bruce.
