Sarasota lithium battery fire: Video captures rapid explosion risk

Sarasota County fire officials are warning the public about the dangers of lithium-ion battery fires after responding to multiple blazes caused by the devices this year.Sarasota fire video demonstrationVideo captured during a demonstration at the Sarasota County Fire Department's Fire Academy shows how quickly lithium-ion batteries can ignite. The video shows cells inside the battery repeatedly catching fire and spitting flames, creating an explosion-like reaction."One of the challenges is you can’t always tell, but it’s hot inside the cell, so if you have visible fire, that’s easy, but sometimes the cell is so hot inside that it can lay hours, sometimes even days later, so it can be super dangerous as they get that thermal runway," said Assistant Chief of Operations Casey Kelch with the Sarasota County Fire Department. The Sarasota County Fire Department has responded to seven structure fires this year where lithium-ion batteries either caused or contributed to the blaze. These batter