WORCESTER, Mass. - Whether it's your phone, a laptop, or even a toy that's just hanging around the house, there's a distinct possibility you have a device with a lithium ion battery. Experts at Worcester Polytechnic Institute are testing just how dangerous these batteries can be if they're not treated properly.

"So, unlike the normal fire, it doesn't really start with a small flame," said James Urban, interim department head of WPI's fire protection engineering program. "A lot of what's going on is internal heating that's happening in the battery that you can't really see very easily. You may see evidence of this by little bits of smoke coming off the battery or swelling."

It was a matter of seconds between the time a lithium battery overheated and it being completely engulfed in flames.

WPI ran a series of live demonstrations for the Worcester Fire department Wednesday to highlight the dangers of thermal runaway.

"Thermal runaway is the fancy term we use to describe when a battery fire starts," Urban said.

Urban says a number of factors can lead to this type of devastating result. Some are as simple as using a cheap, knockoff charger.

"Using the battery beyond its normal life," Urban said. "It could come from physical damage to the battery, or thermal damage, or electrical damage. All of these things could damage the battery so that it's more predisposed to go into thermal runaway."

Watching from the crowd was Worcester Fire Assistant Chief Adam Roche, who says while the department has not responded to many of these types of calls, they are becoming more prevalent.

"Electric scooters and those hoover boards; don't charge them inside your houses," Roche urged. "Don't charge them inside buildings. We don't recommend bringing them into elevators because you can see the products of combustion can be as deadly as the fire."

Urban says these fires are quite different when compared to others, saying they're not natural.

"There's a lot of energy that's packed into these batteries," Urban said. "It's why they're useful. But it also means there's that potential for that energy to get out."