Smokey the Lithium Battery Bear

CATSKILL - A digital age Smokey the Bear message is being delivered by Greene County officials in the aftermath of a potentially dire fire at the Catskill waste management transfer station.

Multiple firefighting units, led by the Catskill Fire Company, responded to an automatic heat alarm in the early evening of August 20, with multiple agencies arriving at the State Route 85 scene.

Volunteers discovered what they termed a “working fire” within a 60-by-80- foot metal building, safely knocking down the burning with no injuries or major damage reported.

The source of the fire has been narrowed down to “irresponsible dumping of hot material” and in particular in recent years, lithium (Li-ion) batteries.

“We have had many fires the last 25 plus years at this facility. This is not the fault of the county,” the CFC reported on their Facebook page, noting only people can prevent this type of garbage fire.

“We want to implore the public to dispose of any and all batteries in a safe and proper manner,” the CFC Facebook page stated.

The safest and most proper manner, according to county officials, is to bring batteries to the manager’s office at any of four transfer stations.

Greene County Solid Waste Transfer Stations are official drop-off points for Call2Recycle, a national non-profit organization that runs a large consumer and industrial battery recycling program.

County lawmakers have invested millions of dollars in upgrades to the four sites in recent years. “We did have significant damage to the wiring and electrical systems in the building,” county highway and solid waste department superintendent Scott Templeton said.

However, “because of the quick reactions and response from the first responders, the structure sustained limited damage,” Templeton said.

“All the first responders, Greene County Sheriff's, Catskill, Athens, West Athens, Leeds, Earlton, Kiskatom & Hudson Fire Departments as well as the Catskill Ambulance service, did a great job responding to the fire at the Single Stream Recycling building,” Templeton said.

Templeton also shared information from “Avoid the Spark” related to battery safety that states:

—“No batteries (especially lithium-ion or damaged batteries) should ever be thrown in the trash! Doing so puts everyone involved in the battery journey at risk. 

—“Growing battery related fires at waste and recycling centers across the country are spotlighting the need for increased #batterysafety.

—“The more you know about how to safely handle, protect and transport used batteries, the safer you and your community will be.

—“Help #avoidthebatteryspark by accessing information on ways to be

#batterysafetysmart www.avoidthespark.com.”

Traditional all-for-one cooperation resulted in a very successful outing. “Catskill fire was alerted to respond with all available manpower for a possible working fire,” the CFC Facebook page stated.

“Also at this time Athens, Leeds, and West Athens were asked to standby with tankers. As further updates came in the tankers were requested to respond in and wait on [Route] 385,” between Catskill and Athens.

Further summoned were “Hudson with manpower and Earlton for fast team work. A few minutes later Coxsackie and Greenport tankers were called as we were not sure how deep the burning trash went,” the CFC page stated.

“Kiskatom was covering any additional alarms for us. Leeds tanker arrived first as they were on a separate call when requested.

“Shortly after, two Catskill engines arrived and a 2.5” hand-line was stretched. The initial line entered and as soon as they started knocking visible fire down, two overhead doors were opened to ventilate.

“Additionally we stretched two other smaller lines to wet down garbage the excavators were pulling out. Everything and everybody worked well and kept the county from losing a building.

“We have had many fires the last 25 plus years at this facility. We want to thank everyone for the help including…the solid waste crew and our own fire police who are not appreciated enough,” the CFC page stated.

Li-ion batteries power portable consumer electronics, laptop computers, cellular phones and electric cars, according to Wikipedia. They are also used for grid-scale energy storage and in military and aerospace applications.