Refuse truck 'almost went up in flames' in Rickmansworth

Locals have been warned never to throw batteries in general rubbish bins after a thoughtlessly discarded lithium battery pack could have caused an explosion in Aldbury Road, Mill End, Rickmansworth.

At around 9.45am today (February 1), Katie Goulden saw smoke “billowing out” from the back of the refuse truck before its driver, Terry Hall, ran to the back and grabbed a fire extinguisher.

The truck, Terry Hall (left) (Image: Boyd Goulden)

Her husband, Boyd Goulden said: “He stopped the arm from crushing, got up on the step and jumped in the back to put it out. Then he threw the battery on the floor.

“He had obviously not thought of anything other than stopping the fire, he could have left it and just phoned 999.

“It was quite brave of him, a lot of people might have just pointed the extinguisher at it.

"You don’t know if people have put an aerosol can in there, it would have been a big explosion then.

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“If it wasn’t for the vigilance of the lads to see the smoke billowing out of the back and put their own safety at risk, things could have been a lot worse.”

The 50-year-old works as a local electrical contractor and is often hired for his health and safety expertise, he explained that it only takes a slight spark for a lithium battery to go up.

The large battery pack, he said, likely came from an electric scooter or rechargeable toy car – but all lithium batteries are unstable and could catch fire.

He added: “I actually know Terry and he told me ‘I’ve had it almost go up in flames on three different rounds recently’.

The battery and fire extinguisher (Image: Boyd Goulden)

“He said he is now going through extinguishers rapidly because people are not throwing things away properly.”

See your nearest battery recycling point here

NOS canisters are also common offenders if the crushing arm catches them.

In Hertfordshire, household batteries can be disposed of at local battery recycling centres which can be found at many shops and supermarkets in Watford.

Car batteries can be taken to your local recycling centre.