VIDEO: State lawmakers have introduced a budget item that would better prepare firefighters to battle fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.
The resolution, sponsored by Coventry Rep. Thomas Noret, would allocate $60,000 of the state’s budget for the 2025 fiscal year to the Rhode Island Fire Academy.
The Rhode Island Fire Academy would use the money to provide firefighters with the specialized training necessary to knock down lithium-ion battery fires effectively and safely.
Central Coventry Fire Chief Frank Brown told 12 News the specialized training would benefit his firefighters, especially after last week’s fire at the Glenwood Park Apartments. Brown said the fire was sparked by a lithium-ion battery attached to a boy’s electric bike. The boy had plugged the bike into an outlet to charge shortly before it exploded, he added.