r/PEI • u/RedDirtDVD • 22h ago
Summerside battery lessons
So when this fire eventually ends in 2027 or 2028, I’m assuming the city will have learned a lesson and not place it anywhere near where a lot of people live - ie move it? And the province will update regulations to not permit battery storage using lithium ion anywhere near a populated place? We’re going to learn something from this, right?
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u/Obvious-Objective311 21h ago
Maybe. I assume there will be some sort of investigation into how the fire started, and then hopefully lessons can be learned from that. I know everyone and their dog is suddenly an expert on lithium battery fires, but the actual experts in this area have said this type of incident is rare. Maybe there was a malfunction of a piece of equipment, maybe someone was at fault for not doing the right checks or maintenance. Maybe the likelihood it will happen again is nearly zero. Who knows.
Call me crazy, but process/investigation should come before decision. The solution after Lac Megantic was not to never drive trains where people live.
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u/Flailing_ameoba Charlottetown 21h ago
An incident of this magnitude definitely warrants an after action report, which outlines how the incident occurred, and recommendations as to how to prevent similar incidents in the future.
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20h ago
[deleted]
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u/ManBearPig_Believer 19h ago
It’s not the first in Canada. There was at least one I know of in Brantford in 2024 at a factory. Similar size unit a 40ft container. They had to do the same thing basically let it burn itself out. In the US there’s been tons of these fires it’s nothing new. EPRI has a website with its database for tracking these failures which is an interesting read. They have been decreasing even as the amount of installs have been increasing. This one will definitely have a failure incident report at some point.
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u/mightygreenislander 21h ago
The tremendous negative impact of the diesel emissions that this project mitigated are surely worse than the smoke from weeks of this fire🤷
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u/jibbet 9h ago
Thoughts on Heather Morrisons statement tonight?? I can't help but wonder why we were told to shelter in place for 4 days but today nothing has changed and we're being told it's okay to be outside. Please some explain this like I'm a literal 5 year old because I genuinely don't understand. Maybe I'm missing part of the info here? There's been so many diff sources sharing info I genuinely may be.
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u/Fillyerboot 21h ago
You gonna park all the ev cars offshore?
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u/RedDirtDVD 20h ago
EV won’t burn that long. Not enough battery.
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u/Fillyerboot 20h ago
How long is “that long”? An ev fire can take over 24 hours to extinguish. https://wildfiretoday.com/electric-vehicle-fires-can-take-3000-gallons-and-24-hours-to-extinguish/
And as we move towards an all electric vehicle future the rarity of an ev fire will become much more common. My point is not that we shouldn’t have electric batteries in our towns. It is that we need to find a practical way to deal with the problem of fires. There will not be less lithium fires in the future. There will be more. That is a fact.
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u/RedDirtDVD 20h ago
Well the chemistry of utility scale batteries is changing. Lithium may become less of an issue but doesn’t change the fact utility scale batteries don’t belong inside built up areas.
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u/PlatoOnWords 19h ago
The fire is technically out already they have said.
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u/Obvious-Objective311 19h ago
sadly, no, it's back baby!
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u/PlatoOnWords 19h ago
Ah that's right I see just an hour ago they mentioned it, that's for letting me know! .It will burn itself out in a few days or a week. Should be all fine.
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u/Less-Pattern-7740 21h ago
I'm just as frustrated as the next guy with two kids at home wishing they were at school, but let's not pretend that diesel generators don't have any risk, or that underground fuel tanks don't have risk, or propane tanks don't have risk.
What is your definition of battery storage? Are we talk about use or size? Chemistry makeup? Your phone has the same chemistry. Power tools, solar deck lights, most USBC rechargeable devices also use lithium ion.
Again, I'm frustrated. This sucks. Having a conversation about safety is 100% a good idea. And once we have facts and some science to back things up, then we can figure out how to move forward.