Hazard @ MindSay

Today's news is brought to you by Smurfy and the word "irony." In Lancaster, PA, a truck full of fire extinguishers and safety equipment caught on fire last week.

Firefighters arrived at the scene to find that the '91 Ford f-350 Super Duty truck was experiencing an engine fire. The truck was parked at a house near Hershey Village Apartments, close to civilization. It resulted in the burning of some branches, as well as minor damage to a nearby parked car.

The truck belonged to the Lancaster Safety Technologies company. The company's specialization is "fire extinguisher inspections, recharges and sales." Though none of the safety equipment was damaged, the company lost their truck and had about $25,000 in total damages.

The fire was determined as accidental. 

Dell is recalling 4.1 million notebook computer batteries because they could erupt in flames, the company said today. This will be the largest safety recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

 

Dell, the world’s largest PC maker, said the lithium-ion batteries were made by Sony and were installed in notebooks sold between April 2004 and July 18 of this year.

 

The recall raises broader questions about lithium-ion batteries, which are used in a host of devices like cellphones, portable power tools, camcorders, digital cameras and MP3 players. The potential for such batteries to catch fire has been acknowledged for years and has prompted more limited recalls in the past. But a number of recent fires involving notebook computers, some aboard planes, have brought renewed scrutiny.

 

Dell has reported to the safety agency that it documented six instances since December in which notebooks overheated or caught on fire. None of the incidents caused injuries or death. Dell said the problems were a result of a manufacturing defect in batteries made by Sony.

 

The safety agency said the batteries were not unique to Dell, meaning that other companies using Sony batteries may also have to issue recalls. Sony has sold its batteries to most of the major computer makers.

 

The recalled batteries were used in 2.7 million computers sold in the United States and 1.4 million sold overseas. The total is about 18 percent of Dell’s notebook production during the period in question.

 

Depending on how many of the batteries are still in use, the cost of the recall could exceed $300 million. Dell refused to estimate the cost, but said the recall would not materially affect its profits. Sony, which affirmed today that its batteries were responsible, said it was “financially supporting” Dell in the recall.

 

Dell said it would notify affected customers by mail and online, advising them to remove their current laptop batteries immediately and arranging to send replacements.