Glucose monitors report on the user’s blood sugar level. They may not realize these devices contain batteries, but they do, and nowadays these are often the lithium-ion kind. Reports just in confirm how glucose monitor batteries lead to a blaze in Morris, Illinois in United States.
Disturbing News of Glucose Monitor Blaze
We were not consciously aware that glucose monitors contain lithium-ion batteries. But then these batteries are everywhere, and the characteristics of the fire confirm that lithium-ion chemistry played a role.
The actual type of batteries depends on the glucose monitor design. They could be replaceable CR2032 coin cell batteries, or AAA cellular ones. Although the non-replaceable lifetime cells are more likely to use lithium-metal-manganese, or zinc silver oxide chemistry.
25 Fire Agencies Tackle Monitor Battery Fire
WCSJ News channel reports the presence of a large number of Morris, Illinois emergency resources. The glucose monitor batteries that caused the blaze were in a commercial building apparently used for storage purposes.
The media interviewed the Morris fire chief who explained how the fire represented challenges they found difficult to deal with. At times he was concerned that the entire building faced destruction.
First responders need to think on their feet. The fire chief established that the blaze affected several thousand glucose monitors, each of which contained a lithium-ion battery.
This was still breaking news when we wrote this article. Batteries compress their energy into a tiny spaces, and gradually release it on demand. When they short-circuit, they release the whole lot as heat.
What Triggered the Blaze in the Storage Facility?
This is often the end of the story, but unfortunately this was not the case with the lithium-ion batteries. That was because their critical component, lithium, is highly flammable and difficult to extinguish.
What happened in that storage facility to trigger the blaze is lost in the ashes of that fire. The initial heat spread through the rest of the glucose monitors. Fortunately nobody was injured, and for that we should all be grateful.
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