The recent devastating fire at a lithium battery manufacturing factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, has starkly revealed the gaps in safety management for battery fires. Within 15 seconds of ignition, white smoke from the batteries filled the factory. An employee’s attempt to extinguish the fire with a regular extinguisher proved futile. Lithium reacts with water, causing heat and explosions, and requires metal fire-specific extinguishers or sand, none of which were available at the factory. There are no regulations mandating such equipment in factories. While the battery industry has rapidly advanced, fire preparedness remains practically nonexistent.
A significant reason for this oversight is that metal fires are not classified as a fire type under fire laws. Consequently, there are no specific response manuals or standards, making it difficult to even test new fire extinguishers for metal fires. Although private sector-developed metal fire extinguishers exist, their effectiveness is unverified, and there is no obligation to install them. Lithium batteries emit gas before reaching thermal runaway, presenting a crucial window to control the heat. Developing dedicated extinguishers for this phase is urgently needed.
The use of batteries in smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles has surged, with larger capacities increasing fire risks. Fire preparedness, however, has not kept pace. Suppressing electric vehicle fires remains challenging due to the lack of effective methods to manage internal battery fires and heat. The cumulative number of registered electric vehicles in South Korea surpassed 500,000 last year, with further growth expected. Research into battery fire suppression methods is an urgent national issue.
Battery manufacturers must prioritize safety management. The recent incident was exacerbated by storing 35,000 batteries in a single location within the factory. Adhering to the principle of segregating battery storage areas could have prevented such a catastrophe. Compliance with this basic safety rule would have averted the tragedy.
