This is for all of you guys out there just getting into Micro Helis, 
like myself, who have heard how dangerous Litho batteries are but never 
encountered or considered the fire hazards. I just got my first Micro, 
a Hornet2 about a month ago. I traded a good guy here,and it came with 
all the necessary equipment to get it flying including a Lithium-Ion charger. 
I have been working on this heli for about 3 weeks working out the kinks 
and getting familiar with the heli as a whole. I had a friend help me 
assemble the pack, 2 Etec 1200 litho cells. I also purchased a 3 cell pack 
from Deetee as a spare and had been primarily using the 3 cell pack to test 
fly and such. Today I used the 2 cell pack...hovered awhile until the 
battery discharged and promptly brought the heli down to the workshop for 
a recharge. Plugged it in and went and played some PS2 with my son. About 
30 minutes later, the smoke detectors went off. As I yelled for my wife to 
bring all the kids in the basement upstairs, I ran to the workshop and found 
3 large fires burning. One where the Hornet used to be, one on a center 
bench under a Q500 airplane and one directly under 2 helicopters on a plastic 
shelf. What confused me was I could understand the fire where the Hornet was, 
I was very worried and confused to see 2 other fires 2 and 6 feet away from 
the source fire. I ran back upstairs, told my wife to get the kids completely 
out of the house and got a fire extinguisher. On the way back down I told 
myself I was only going to give this one serious attempt to put out, I could 
barely breath and my ego isn't too large where being a dead hero would keep 
me down there. I hit the 3 fires hard, ran back outside and got some air. 
Convinced I had the fires out, I went back down, but the smoke was so intense 
I could not get back far enough to the work shop to confirm that the fire was 
out. Dialed 911. Turned out I was right...the fire was out indeed. But what 
the heck happened???? How did the fire jump from one bench to the other and 
then another 3 feet to start another fire??? The firefighters were at a loss... 
Finally the small burn marks in the carpet told the tale..The batteries had 
exploded. As I sat in the shower after the fire dept left, and just tried to 
mellow out, it hit me. The battery charger I use has jumpers on it to determine 
how many cells and what charge rate you want. Please make sure your cell jumper 
is set properly. Mine wasn't and I almost burned down my house because of it. 
I had the jumper set for a three cell pack and was charging a 2 cell pack. 
This fire happened in 30 minutes tops and anything flammable within 6 feet 
started on fire. I'm lucky. The Hornet is completely melted, the airplane is 
repairable and the other 2 helis are just scorched not to mention all the 
powder from the extinguisher that covers everything. My house stinks. I'm a 
mental disaster. BUT, my family is safe, and that's all that matters anyway. 
BE CAREFUL with those jumpers guys. These batteries are real serious real quick. 

Paul