LINWOOD - A vape battery caused a fire in an Atlantic County Utilities Authority collection truck during a trash route in Linwood Tuesday, Nov. 26, according to a release.
While completing their route, ACUA employees noticed the smell of smoke and immediately pulled the truck over. The Linwood Fire Department quickly responded to put out the fire. After the fire was safely extinguished, a vape battery was discovered in the trash and was determined to be the cause of the fire.
A vape battery caused a fire in an ACUA collection truck.
A similar incident occurred in 2018 when a hoverboard battery caused a fire in an ACUA collection truck in Brigantine.
ACUA stresses the importance of checking if an item is hazardous before placing it in a trash or recycling can.
Vape batteries are considered hazardous waste and should never be placed in household trash bins. Vape users should dispose should bring the batteries back to their local vape store for recycling, or bring them to one of ACUA's Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Offs held throughout the year. See www.acua.com/hhw for the schedule.
As a reminder, residents should never dispose of these items in their household bins:
- Non-Alkaline Batteries standard alkaline batteries are safe to place in your household trash can. All other batteries, such as lead-acid car batteries, nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries, lithium-ion batteries (commonly used in electronics), silver oxide batteries (commonly used in watches or hearing aids) must be taken to an authorized recycler or to ACUA's Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Offs. See www.acua.com/batteries for more information.
- Electronics electronics contain hazardous materials that are banned from the landfill. There are many local recyclers who can safely dispose of these items. See www.acua.com/electronics for more information.
- Household Chemicals this includes pesticides, oil-based paint, most cleaning supplies, pool chemicals, and other items that are harmful to the environment. Residents can bring these to our bring to ACUA's Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Offs. See www.acua.com/hhw for more information.
- Fluorescent Light Bulbs these contain mercury and should not be disposed of in the trash. Please return to a local Home Depot, Lowes or bring to ACUA's Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Offs. See www.acua.com/hhw for more information.
If a resident is unsure if an item is accepted as household trash or recycling, see
www.acua.com, where you can live chat with an ACUA representative, or call at 609-272-6950.
