TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday that gives the State Fire Marshal new powers to help prevent fires ignited by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
A News 6 investigation last year revealed that there were no state standards for safely storing commercial lithium-ion batteries.
“It scares the daylights out of me,” State Fire Marshal Director JoAnne Rice told News 6 in September. “It is a fire that burns hotter and faster than any fire we’ve ever seen, and we don’t have the tools.”
See News 6′s original investigation into lithium-ion battery dangers
As a result, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who oversees the fire marshal, and legislators added language to the Department of Financial Services bills in both the Florida House and Senate that would give the State Fire Marshal’s Office new powers to form storage safety rules for lithium-ion batteries.
Getting Results
Lake County Public Safety Director David Kilbury emailed News 6 after exposing the lack of safety rules.
“You covered so much of the safety involving fires with lithium batteries, and from a public safety standpoint, I want to thank you for that because that’s the message that needs to get out there,” he said.
Kilbury showed News 6 how firefighters use lithium-ion batteries to power the Jaws of Life.
They sit on chargers inside the firehouse, where they are carefully watched.
“We want to keep all combustibles away, and these are some high brand names,” he said. “The one thing is – all of these are UL tested, and you know, when you go with battery names, like Panasonic or Samsung, you can be assured that you probably have a battery that’s been through a battery of testing if you will.”
“Any time we partner with you, we’re going to see the needle get moved with awareness in the Florida Legislature,” Patronis said.
Patronis spoke to News 6 from Tallahassee as he awaited the governor’s signature.
“We’ve already gotten outreach from a number of stakeholders that are in the industry,” he said. “A lot of the utility companies have already said, ‘Hey, we’re looking into this, thank you, we want some standardization when it comes to batteries in the state of Florida.’”
Unlike other bills the governor has signed, this bill becomes effective immediately.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office told News 6 it may take some time to establish the new rules, but they know that time is of the essence.
At the bill signing on Thursday, Patronis discussed News 6’s involvement in drawing attention to the need for new legislation.
“We learn something from every storm and KMG was an amazing partner with bringing this issue to the forefront after Hurricane Ian,” Patronis said. “It’s not just limited to EVs, but it’s all lithium-ion batteries. Fantastic technology, it’s not going away, but we are putting our first responders in harm’s way; in addition, we’re putting our citizens in harm’s way. With that signature that the governors did, that’s enabled rulemaking. So we’re going to lean forward and we’re going to start creating policies that make sense for safe handling, to make sure that our families are safe and our first responders are safe, but KMG was a great partner with all of that, couldn’t have done it without them.”
One of the safety suggestions from fire officials is to choose certified products, but how do you know if yours is certified? UL Solutions is well-known in the U.S. for battery safety testing and certification. They have a database on their site. Click here to find it.
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