Boston fire officials said Wednesday that lithium-ion batteries caused the Dorchester house fire that killed firefighter Robert “Bobby” Kilduff Jr. in May, a 24-year veteran of the department who died after falling from the third story of a burning home during a three-alarm blaze. The announcement offers new information about the cause of the fire that claimed Kilduff’s life, even as two separate investigations into his death continue.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Fire Commissioner Rodney Marshall shared the new information about the fire’s cause this week, according to WCVB. Marshall announced that investigators determined the fire began on a third-floor porch at the rear of the building and that the cause was lithium-ion batteries. WCVB reported those batteries were stored inside toolboxes, while NBC Boston reported the batteries were stored in plastic boxes in an enclosed porch at the rear of the building’s third floor. Marshall told reporters the batteries experienced “thermal runaway,” per NBC Boston’s account.
A Fall During a Three-Alarm Fire
Kilduff fell from the third story of the Dorchester home on May 23 while fighting the three-alarm blaze, the station’s report states. He was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. Five residents of the house escaped without injury, according to The Boston Globe.
Marshall said the ongoing investigations should proceed without speculation or premature conclusions, the same account notes. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Boston Fire Department’s Board of Inquiry are both still conducting parallel investigations into Kilduff’s death, and no findings from either review have been made public.
Remembering a Third-Generation Firefighter
Kilduff was a Marine veteran and a third-generation firefighter, the Globe reports. His fellow firefighters gathered at Rescue 2 following his death, and his children and longtime partner said his impact extended far beyond his work with the department.
A Statewide Pattern of Battery Fires
The blaze that killed Kilduff fits into a broader trend Massachusetts fire officials have been tracking. A new tool from the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services identified 50 lithium-ion battery fires across the state in six months, more than double the annual average detected by a national fire data reporting system, according to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services. Separately, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has described lithium-ion battery fires as a growing problem that extends across the supply chain, including mining, production, warehousing, shipping, and waste disposal, per a NIST publication.
In the wake of Kilduff’s death, the Boston Fire Department has urged residents to properly charge and inspect lithium-ion batteries, use them only for the devices they are meant for, and store them indoors at room temperature and out of direct sunlight, NBC Boston reported. Officials have not released further details on the state of either investigation into the fire that killed Kilduff.
