A large fire that burned through part of a Wareham, Massachusetts, strip mall this weekend likely started with lithium-ion batteries, fire officials said, sharing video of the blaze erupting.
It took dozens of firefighters, one of whom was briefly hospitalized, to extinguish the flames at the mall on Cranberry Highway near Sand Pond Road in Onset, officials said. Several businesses at the mall were damaged; no other injuries were reported.
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The fire is believed to have started with lithium-ion batteries, hundreds of which were found where the fire began, state and local fire officials said Wednesday. Video they shared shows smoke, then flames, rising from a display at a hobby store, the fire quickly spreading and leaving that part of the store charred.
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“Lithium-ion batteries power many of the devices we use every day,” Onset Fire Chief Jeffrey Osswald said in a statement. “The fire damage and heavy, toxic smoke from this incident demonstrate just how serious we all have to be about battery safety.”
The batteries at the hobby store where the fire began — officials say investigators are confident the failure of a battery in the area caused the blaze — had to be put in dumpsters and covered with sand by Hazmat technicians.
