A lithium ion battery is being blamed for a Sunday morning fire in Havre de Grace that caused about $75,000 in damages to a house in the 4400 block of Webster Lapidum Road.

The battery, which was for remote-controlled boats, was being charged when it started a fire in the home’s kitchen, at about 10 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release from the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s office. About 25 firefighters responded to the call and the fire was quickly extinguished.

Two dogs were rescued from the two-story single-family home, and no one was injured. The owner wasn’t home but learned of the fire from an automatic fire alarm and called a neighbor to check on the house, the news release stated.

Lithium batteries are in everything from lawnmowers and toys to electric cars. The U.S. Fire Administration has highlighted the unique dangers of fire from the highly efficient power source. Overcharging a lithium-ion battery beyond its designed capacity can lead to overheating and uncontrolled heating can lead to fire or explosion.

Aside from their tendency to combust, lithium batteries cause fires that can be very difficult to extinguish. Last September a flaming battery from a Tesla Semi in California caused a fire that took more than 50,000 gallons of water to extinguish, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board. In addition to the huge amount of water, firefighters used an aircraft to drop fire retardant on the “immediate area” of the electric truck as a precautionary measure, the agency said in a preliminary report. Firefighters said previously that the battery reached temperatures of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 Celsius) while it was in flames.

In recent local examples, a charging lithium battery at a Fallston home caused $25,000 in damages last year, and a lithium-battery explosion destroyed a Hampstead house in 2018. In 2022, the Baltimore City Fire Department warned of lithium ion batteries in electric bikes as a potential fire danger after a Federal Hill garage fire was blamed on a charging e-bike.

Have a news tip? Contact Bryna Zumer at bzumer@baltsun.com, or on X as @brynazumer .