Fire Prevention Week is underway and if you want to avoid starting a fire, make sure to charge your devices safely.
Fire department officials say this year’s theme is ‘charge into fire safety’.
Firefighters are offering tips on how to charge devices with lithium-ion batteries.
Devices include e-bikes, vehicles, scooters, phones, laptops, smartwatches and toothbrushes.
Fire Prevention Officer Shay Herrett says you should use a charger that comes with the product and charge the device on a hard surface.
“We don’t want to put them on the couch or leave them in the hot sun, I know sometimes when I’m charging my phone and it is in the sun, I get a warning message and my phone shuts off and stops charging because it is overheating.”
Other tips include charging power tools outside of a building or in a garage that isn’t attached to your home and discarding lithium-ion batteries at hazardous waste stations.
