Battery energy storage system is facing high fire risk due to the thermal runaway of the lithium-ion battery under abuse conditions. The current widely used heptafluoropropane or water in fire-extinguishing system shows limited effectiveness for battery fire extinguishing. This mini-review briefly introduces the suitability of current fire extinguishing agents in battery fire, analyzes the fire feathers and summarizes the several typical approaches to novel prototype fire extinguishing agents in terms of fire/flame retardant materials, structure design and surface treatments. This mini-review provides a basic background of the battery fire control and recent developments in fire extinguishing agents.