SWANA, Fire Rover develop fire incident reporting tool

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, has partnered with Michigan-based Fire Rover to launch a collaborative webpage dedicated to improving battery safety and preventing fires caused by lithium-ion batteries that are improperly disposed of in waste and recycling streams.

Fires caused by batteries are an ongoing challenge across the waste and recycling industry. As lithium-ion batteries become more common in everyday products, they too often end up in household trash and recycling bins, SWANA says, where they can ignite fires in collection vehicles, processing facilities and landfills. The new webpage was created to help address this issue through education, data collection and access to safety resources.

• a searchable tool to help users find battery drop-off and recycling locations near them;
• an anonymous fire reporting feature to support industry data collection and awareness;
• educational content and resources focused on battery safety and fire prevention; and
• information highlighting the shared role of communities and industry professionals in reducing battery-related fire risks.

SWANA says it will use the data and examples to support outreach and advocacy efforts for battery safety.

"Battery safety has been a top priority for SWANA,” says SWANA CEO Amy Lestition Burke. “This new webpage is our latest tool to support our members and the public with preventing battery-related fires. We have been hearing from our SWANA Lithium-Ion Battery Workgroup about the need for a centralized database to report battery fires. Fire Rover, a corporate partner of SWANA, worked with us to make this a reality. We appreciate this productive partnership with Fire Rover."

"This new webpage reflects the shared mission of SWANA and Fire Rover to protect workers, facilities and the public from the growing risk of fires linked to lithium-ion batteries," adds Ryan Fogelman of Fire Rover. "Preventing battery-caused fires requires education, shared responsibility and access to practical solutions."

The webpage builds on the broader partnership between SWANA and Fire Rover, which focuses on data sharing, education and joint programming to mitigate fire hazards associated with lithium-ion batteries. Through this collaboration, both organizations say they aim to support safer practices and provide actionable resources for the waste and resource management industry.