Handbag with ‘Fully Functional’ Grenades Found During B.C. Police Search
- In British Columbia, rechargeable batteries caused 70 fires in 2023, resulting in $3.4 million in damages and four injuries, but no deaths, according to the B.C. Office of the Fire Commissioner.
- In Vancouver, battery fires have risen consistently, with a year-over-year average increase of 20 percent over the last three years, according to the city's website.
- Causes of battery fires include modified chargers and improper battery configurations, which lead to dangerous situations, as well as a new risk called battery concussion that may cause hidden damage.
- Experts recommend only charging batteries while someone is awake to catch any issues early, as the gases released during thermal runaway can be extremely toxic.
20 Articles
20 Articles
BC RCMP Find ‘Fully Functional’ Grenades in Handbag During Home Search
Police in northern B.C. say they had to evacuate an apartment complex after “fully functional” hand grenades were found while officers were executing a search warrant during a drug investigation. Prince George RCMP said the incident happened while they conducted searches at multiple locations around the city on June 6 and June 7. The searches were an effort to make a “sizeable dent” in the illegal drug trade in the city, RCMP said in a June 24 r…

Explosive trend: Fires caused by lithium ion batteries on the rise in B.C.
8 such fires in Surrey so far this year, Vancouver seeing an average 20% increase each year
A NEW EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO LITHIUM-ION BATTERY FIRES IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES: INVESTIGATION OF FIRE BEHAVIOR AND EFFECTIVENESS OF EXTINGUISHING AGENTS
This study investigates fire incidents in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and evaluates the effectiveness of extinguishing agents unde…
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