Third battery fire at Suncycle site in Thuringia
Aug 2024Published 29 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Suncycle
What happened
On 11 August 2024 a lithium battery fire broke out at Suncycle, a solar and storage service company in Thuringia, Germany. Fire services treated it as the third lithium battery fire at the site in two months, after fires on 7 June and 30 June. The fire brigade said fumes slightly injured an employee. A German press agency report said that employee used a forklift to move the burning storage unit away from other stored batteries.
The fire department estimated damage at 30,000 euros. Heavy smoke led to a warning for residents to keep windows and doors closed until the following day. Police again suspected a technical defect. Suncycle later said the batteries were electricity-storage batteries held temporarily for disposal, and that this fire, unlike the June incidents, affected individual pallets rather than a container, so the damage was lower. The first fire was estimated at about 700,000 euros and also prompted toxic-air warnings.
On 30 June the fire department let a container burn in a controlled way after the first firefighting operation produced hydrofluoric acid and costly disposal of extinguishing water. No damage figure was given for the second fire.
Contributing factors
Police suspected a technical defect. The company said the batteries were being held temporarily for disposal. No confirmed cause has been reported.
Lessons learned
- Batteries awaiting disposal can still catch fire and should be stored so a burning unit can be separated from others.
- Where lithium battery fires have produced toxic run-off, a controlled burn may be chosen, but smoke warnings for nearby residents need to be planned in advance.
- Repeat fires at the same store should prompt a review of segregation, removal access and public warning arrangements.
More lessons on fire suppression and firefighting, emergency response and public communication, from every incident on the register.
Source
Published 2026-09-29. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
