On July 26th (Friday), local time, according to a report by CNN, a semi-truck carrying lithium-ion batteries overturned and caught fire on Interstate 15 in California, resulting in the closure of the highway for over 44 hours. The driver was trapped in temperatures as high as 109 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours, and the northbound lanes of the highway were not reopened until the early hours of Sunday. As of Tuesday (the 30th) afternoon, state officials reported that the fire was still burning, having raged for a full 5 days since the incident.

According to the California Highway Patrol: "At the time of the accident, the driver of a 2020 Freightliner truck was driving a flatbed trailer carrying six sealed containers of industrial-grade lithium-ion batteries, lost control, and overturned, hitting the right shoulder of the northbound I-15 highway. Subsequently, the battery containers fell off the flatbed trailer and also rolled onto the right shoulder."

The six lithium batteries carried in the vehicle, with a total weight exceeding 75,000 pounds, were to be shipped to a project in Wisconsin. The battery manufacturer and the owner of the solar facility have not yet disclosed this information.

Due to the weight of the containers exceeding 75,000 pounds, the local fire department's special operations division has made several attempts to move the containers from the highway shoulder to an open space, using heavy equipment such as excavators and bulldozers, all without success.

In the meantime, fire officials pointed out that "fires involving lithium batteries are particularly dangerous; due to the lithium ions, water cannot be added to the fire, and the batteries must burn out on their own. During the combustion process, a large amount of chemical substances and toxic gases are produced, so this situation must be handled with extreme caution." One of the reasons for the delay includes waiting for the arrival of more hazardous materials experts.

While controlling the fire, the fire department also monitored air quality and added: "These chemical substances pose a serious health risk if their concentrations are too high, and hydrogen cyanide and chlorine are particularly dangerous even at low concentrations."


Since the highway was closed, the dispatch center has received many emergency calls caused by high temperatures, including many people trapped on the road without water due to extreme heat. Some people on social media have said that they were trapped in traffic for six hours and were worried about running out of gasoline or electric vehicle battery power.

As summer approaches and the weather heats up, the safety of lithium battery transportation will face more severe tests. This summer, there have been several accidents involving fires and explosions during the transportation of lithium batteries domestically and internationally. On the whole, lithium battery fires are particularly dangerous, and fire rescue operations are more difficult: lithium batteries are prone to explosions while burning; during the fire rescue process, water cannot be added to the fire with lithium ions, and the batteries must burn out on their own; combustion also produces a large amount of chemical substances and toxic gases. Road transportation during the journey causes traffic congestion and poses health risks to residents along the way and drivers of trapped vehicles on the highway.

The safety issues of lithium batteries have become a global focus, with several countries continuously exploring and attempting various feasibility paths from technological innovation, quality supervision, and fire detection. Some countries have even proposed the concept of "non-lithium" energy storage projects. Considering the future demand for long-duration energy storage and safety factors, the development of inherently safe flow batteries is increasingly recognized by more countries, and various technical routes of flow batteries are being broken through and innovated by experts from various countries.