Your Phone Charger Has Homework This Week

Fire Prevention Week runs through October 10, and Flower Mound's fire department is getting specific about the batteries sitting on your nightstand, in your garage, and next to your kid's bed.

This year's campaign is called "Charge into Fire Safety: Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home," and it covers how to buy, charge, and recycle these batteries safely. It's the second straight year the NFPA has built Fire Prevention Week around lithium-ion battery fires. The incidents are climbing fast enough to warrant the repeat.

The guidance breaks into three practical areas.

Buy certified. When shopping for anything with a lithium-ion battery, look for a safety certification mark — UL, ETL, or CSA. That mark means the product has been tested against established safety standards.

Charge smart. Charge on a hard surface. Not the bed. Not a couch cushion, not under a pillow — soft surfaces trap heat and cause overheating. Use the cord that came with the device, and if you need a replacement, get one the manufacturer has approved. When the battery is full, unplug it. Overcharging is a real risk.

For bigger items, the calculus shifts. E-bikes, scooters, and certain power tools should be charged outside and away from exits, because their higher-capacity batteries can produce far more intense fires if something goes wrong. Worth reconsidering if the e-bike currently lives in the entryway.

Watch for warning signs. Excessive heat, swelling, smoke, or a smell that wasn't there before are all signs a battery is failing. Stop using the device immediately.

Recycle, don't trash. Lithium-ion batteries thrown in the trash or a regular recycling bin can start a fire. Bring them to a dedicated battery recycling location instead.

One more item from the NFPA: a working smoke alarm makes you half as likely to die if a fire breaks out in your home. Every room where someone sleeps and every level of the home should have one, tested monthly, batteries swapped out annually, and the whole unit replaced every ten years.

The full guidance is at flowermound.gov.