Your phone sits on your nightstand while you sleep. Your laptop charges on the kitchen counter. Your teenager’s hoverboard lives in the garage. Many of them contain lithium-ion batteries, and any of them could catch fire tonight. These batteries power almost everything we use daily. They’re in tablets, power banks, e-cigarettes, cordless tools, and countless children’s toys. They store massive amounts of energy in tiny spaces, which makes them incredibly useful. It also makes them dangerous when something goes wrong. Battery fires don’t just damage property. They cause devastating injuries. Victims suffer severe burns that require years of treatment, and some never fully recover. Many of these fires result from defects that manufacturers could’ve prevented.
Why Lithium Batteries Explode
The technical term is thermal runaway. That’s when a battery overheats uncontrollably until it combusts or explodes. Usually, it’s a defect in how the battery was designed or made. Common Battery Defects:
- Manufacturing flaws that let internal components touch when they shouldn’t
- Cheap separator materials between positive and negative electrodes
- Sloppy quality control during production
- Faulty battery management systems that can’t regulate charging properly
- Design shortcuts that make batteries vulnerable to normal wear and tear
A properly designed battery should have multiple safeguards against everyday scenarios. When those safeguards fail because a company cuts corners, people get hurt. Working with a Birmingham product liability lawyer allows you to get compensation for your injuries and hold corner-cutting companies accountable.
Real Risks In Common Devices
Phone batteries aren’t the only problem. Laptops catch fire while people work at their desks. Hoverboards ignite in living rooms. E-cigarettes explode in pockets, causing horrific facial injuries. Children’s tablets have burned down homes. The Consumer Product Safety Commission investigates hundreds of these incidents every year. Most never make the news. Families only discover they’ve been using a dangerous product after it’s already caused harm. Power banks are particularly risky. These portable chargers often lack sophisticated safety systems. Worse, counterfeit products flood online marketplaces and completely bypass safety standards.
Injuries From Battery Fires
When a lithium battery explodes, it doesn’t just spark a small flame. The initial blast can throw fragments like shrapnel. Chemical fires produce toxic fumes that fill rooms in seconds:
- Third-degree burns that require multiple skin grafts
- Facial injuries that permanently affect the eyes and airways
- Scarring and disfigurement that lasts a lifetime
- Smoke inhalation damage to the lungs
- Psychological trauma that doesn’t heal quickly
Burn victims often face months in the hospital, multiple surgeries, and permanent disabilities. The financial burden extends far beyond medical bills to lost wages and reduced earning capacity.
Manufacturer Responsibility
Companies that produce or sell devices with lithium batteries have legal obligations to you. They must design reasonably safe products. They must manufacture them correctly, and they must reasonably warn you about risks that can’t be eliminated. A Birmingham product liability lawyer can investigate whether a battery failure resulted from a defect. This investigation often requires examining the device itself, reviewing manufacturing records, and working with technical specialists.
What Makes A Battery Legally Defective
Alabama law recognizes three types of product defects. Design defects exist when the product’s blueprint itself creates unreasonable danger. Manufacturing defects happen during production when something goes wrong at the factory. Marketing defects involve failing to provide adequate warnings or instructions. Battery cases often involve design flaws. Engineers choose cheaper materials that can’t withstand normal use because it saves money. They pack too many cells into too small a space without adequate ventilation. These aren’t accidents. They’re business decisions that prioritize profit over your safety.
Steps After A Battery Incident
If a lithium battery injures you or damages your property, don’t throw away the device or battery. That physical evidence can prove what happened and reveal the defect. Photograph everything. The device, your injuries, and property damage. Seek medical attention even for burns that seem minor. Burns can worsen over time, and you need documentation from the start. Keep every medical record and receipt. Report the incident to both the manufacturer and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Your complaint could prevent someone else’s child from getting hurt by the same defective product.
Taking Legal Action
Product liability claims against major manufacturers aren’t simple. These companies have teams of lawyers who’ll fight your claim at every step. Success demands thorough preparation and a solid understanding of complex product safety regulations. At Marsh | Rickard | Bryan, LLC, we’ve handled defective product cases involving consumer products and industrial equipment for years. We work with expert engineers and safety professionals who can analyze battery failures and explain technical issues to juries. When a defective lithium battery has caused you harm, you’ve got legal options. Contact our team to discuss your situation today.
