Authorities today are trying to determine the exact cause of a spectacular fire at a lithium-battery-recycling facility in Trail, Canada, owned and operated by Toxco Inc., an Anaheim, California, company that has a recycling agreement with electric-car maker Tesla Motors and recently received $9.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its recycling operations. Fire officials and Toxco executives said today that they believe Saturday night's blaze, which set off a series of explosions witnesses described as resembling a fireworks show, likely started with an internal short in one of the used lithium-ion batteries stored at the 70,000-square-foot facility. The 52 firefighters who responded to reports of explosions at the plant were forced to let the fire burn itself out because lithium is highly reactive to water. Trying to douse the flames would only have made them worse, fire official John MacLean said, adding that environmental authorities were called in because lithium emits lithium oxide and the corrosive lithium dioxide. According to the company's Website, Toxco is the only company in the world “that can recycle any size or type of lithium battery.” The company's credentials no doubt contributed to Toxco receiving a DOE grant in August to expand its battery-recycling operations in preparation for the mass production of large-format lithium batteries expected to occur in coming years as gasoline-electric hybrids and pure-electric vehicles enter the market in great numbers. …
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Fire, Explosions Destroy Canadian Lithium-Battery Recycling Plant
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