Lithium-ion battery being charged started fire.

Carrie Jones

Jul 18, 2026

BAR HARBOR—A June 23 fire in Town Hill was caused by a lithium-ion battery according to the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Bar Harbor Fire Chief Matt Bartlett said his department has just finished final edits on a flyer about how to and where to dispose of lithium batteries to try to help others.

“We will post it on the town’s website and our fire department Facebook page,” Chief Bartlett said in an email.

The June fire had been at 11 West Eden Avenue, which contains a storage building and attached apartment.

Four seasonal employees who work in the kayak and bike tour industry were living at the apartment at the time and have since secured other housing after being displaced.

“Investigators determined the fire originated in the garage and was caused by the failure of a lithium-ion battery in a 2022 Polaris GEM low-speed vehicle,” according to Shannon Moss Public Information Officer of the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The building is owned by CarbonFree LLC, which both Eben Salvatore and Jeff Young, local owners of Acadia Gem, are partners in.

“The vehicle’s battery had gone dead over the winter, and a mechanic had been attempting to charge it. The fire was ruled accidental,” Moss said.

A lithium-ion battery fire destroyed a Mariaville home in May. In July, a lithium-ion battery that was thrown into a trash truck in Hollis caused a fire.

“First and foremost, we are grateful for the efforts of the Bar Harbor Fire Department as well as the mutual aid from our neighboring communities,” Salvatore and Young said in a joint statement.

According to Chief Bartlett, firefighters from eight departments responded, which he also thanked.

“We are still gathering information and planning our next steps in recovering from this unfortunate event. Fortunately, our tenants were able to locate alternative housing. We are also grateful for all of the positive gestures of support we have been getting from our community since the fire. Hopefully, we will be able to begin the rebuilding process soon,” Young and Salvatore said.

When punctured or overheated, lithium-ion batteries can go into a state known as thermal runaway, which is defined by Ufine Battery as “a self-accelerating chain reaction inside a lithium-ion cell. When internal heat builds up faster than it can be dissipated, the temperature rises rapidly, triggering additional exothermic reactions.”

This makes a feedback loop:

Heat → Chemical reaction → More heat → System failure

“Once the internal temperature reaches a critical threshold, the separator can fail, electrodes may react directly, and the cell may vent, catch fire, or explode,” Ufine explains.

Lithium is a soft metal sourced from rocks and groundwater capable of storing large amounts of energy. Batteries made from lithium are used in GEMS and other electric vehicles, electric toothbrushes, cell phones, laptops, scooters, and many more devices.

The National Fire Protection Association writes that the batteries, however, can become damaged or overheat. In extreme cases when this occurs, that battery might catch fire or explode.

This was the case in Town Hill, Mariaville, and Hollis, but also sparked multiple fires in 2025 at a waste management company. They are also likely the cause of a 10-day trash fire in Orrington in 2024.

Maine law requires that manufacturers have collection systems for the rechargeable batteries, Call2Recycle. In Bar Harbor, residents can dispose of the batteries at 9 White Spruce Road, the town’s transfer facility. For residents doing so, contact the station attendant on site for assistance.

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LINKS TO LEARN MOR

Three-Alarm Fire Closes Route 102, Displaces Four Residents.

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QUICK NOTE: We’d been holding this story until the flyer was posted by the BHFD and are thankful that they’ve let us know about it.

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