What to Do About a Laptop/Battery Fire
Call the fire department.
- First, treat a burning laptop like a real fire. Because that’s what it is.
- Call 911, and then evacuate people and pets from the area. In addition to the fire danger, the plastics and chemicals inside can give off toxic fumes.
- If the laptop is just extremely hot or starting to smolder, there are other measures you can take.
Unplug the laptop.
If you can do so safely, unplugging the laptop is a good first step, because it isolates the device from the wall current and keeps additional power from being delivered to the battery. However, unplugging the computer will not prevent a subsequent fire or explosion if the battery is already in thermal runaway.
Remove nearby combustibles.
If you can do so safely, remove the laptop from the couch, which can have easily ignited and set the whole room ablaze. Also move papers, pillows, and other combustibles away from the computer, if it can be done safely.
Air it out.
The next step would be to move the device outside, if the fire is in its early stages. That allows the fumes to vent and prevents the laptop from setting the house or its contents on fire.
Water it down.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but water works in a case like this. Also, if possible, use a conventional ABC dry chemical fire extinguisher. Since the extinguisher can spray effectively from across a large room, you can stay at least 10 feet from the device. Keep a safe distance. You could be dealing with burning shrapnel.
Continue to monitor the device.
Even after the device seems to be out, there may be damage to a cell that can cause the fire to re-ignite. These fires tend to be unpredictable. They can flare back up after three, five, or ten minutes and re-kindle up to 24 hours.
Swollen battery.
- Whether swollen or not, lithium-ion batteries may catch fire or explode if handled improperly. Proceed with caution and at your own risk when removing a battery from an electronic device. If you have doubts about your ability to do so safely, power down and isolate the device, and consult a professional repair technician.
- Removing a swollen battery can be hazardous, but leaving a swollen battery inside a device also poses risks. To prevent potential device and bodily harm, do not operate your device with a swollen battery. These guidelines offer best practices for removing swollen batteries, but can’t guarantee a safe repair. If you have doubts, power the device down, place it in a fireproof container, take it to a repair professional and ask them to remove the faulty battery. Do not delay battery removal.
Dell, aftermarket and cordless batteries.
Dell batteries or an aftermarket battery used with Dell laptops have had issues, and have been known to burn, explode or both. The same issues have been know to happen with cordless tool batteries. If you recycle, store old batteries outside.