An exploding problem: Fires sparked by lithium batteries are confounding firefighters

Last July, an electric transit bus in Connecticut burst into flames while parked at a depot. A month later, an electric scooter sparked a fire inside a New York City apartment that killed a 5-year-old girl and 36-year-old woman. And last month, a fire believed to be caused by the batteries in an electric scooter engulfed a multifamily home in Brockton, Massachusetts.

Lithium-ion batteries have become a ubiquitous feature in new forms of transportation and common household products. They're also found in residential solar energy systems. ---More...