House fire in North Naples caused by old battery pack in solar panels

NORTH NAPLES, Fla. —

An old battery pack inside solar panels caused a fire at a home on Sharwood Drive in North Naples around 4:30 p.m. Monday. It was quickly contained by firefighters from the nearby Station 45.

Heather Mazurkiewicz of the North Collier Fire Rescue District said, "Our crews could see the column of smoke could be seen from Immokalee Road. Our crews were here and started to prepare even before the call came in. So, they were on-scene within moments of the call coming in."

The fire department's investigation concluded that the fire originated from a battery pack in the back corner of the home.

Mazurkiewicz explained, "They did their investigation last night, and then they concluded this morning that the fire was started from a battery pack of the solar panels that were in the back of the back corner of the home."

She emphasized the importance of maintaining and inspecting battery banks, especially those used with solar panels.

"When you have battery banks like we're talking about with these solar panels, you want to make sure that they're regularly maintained, regularly inspected, so that if there is any sign of maybe bulging, aging, that we are looking at making sure that they're all cleaned up and that they're as safe as they possibly could be," Mazurkiewicz said.

Fire officials also advised checking the batteries of any electronics received during the holiday season and reading the instruction manuals, as this type of incident could happen to anyone.

Mazurkiewicz added, "Lithium-ion batteries should only be charged to when they are fully charged, and then take them off the charger. You do not want to leave them on the charger for an extended period of time."

Residents of Collier County can dispose of ion batteries at the Collier County recycle drop-off locations.

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