Stranded this morning

I've recently seen on the news here in phx an EV caught fire and the FD ended up burying the car because they really couldn't do much else.

 

I was told this firsthand on a job site at firefighter’s school by one of their head trainers. He didn’t mention burying the vehicle, but the protocol was to get everyone and everything (within reason in the latter)the hell out of the way, create a perimeter, and let it burn.

 

Do you really think they're not developing an extinguishing method for them? Money follows money and this is no different.

 

Most definitely. But in the meantime, EV fires can be a serious problem for FDs. Hence the "let it burn" approach.

 

This happened near me. A tesla went poof on route 95 north of boston all the big cities responded no one was able to get it under control. 3 hours later of the highway being completely shutdown it burned to a shell. 2 lanes of the highway then needed to be replaced. A day later and a lot of money later back to normal. Also don't forget all the toxic smoke the firefighters get exposed to fighting these ev fires.

 

Somebody makes a fire blanket which I believe is for battery fires, and I think it's Rosenbauer who has a device that punctures the battery to get watter on the cells. There are probably plenty of other things out there. That does not take away the severity in which a bettery fire burns.

 

Got a friend in Naples Florida in his 80's, just loves his Tesla. He phoned me awhile back how to extend the range of his internet service for the car.

 

The contents of the battery are like a nuclear reactor. They tend to reignite, similar to decay heat after a turbine / reactor trip. You need to cool it with LOTS of water for HOURS after you put it out, else it will reignite.

https://thompson-safety.com/company/press/lithium-ion-battery-fire

https://blog.storemasta.com.au/diff...ry-fire-extinguishers-and-other-extinguishers

If it's cheaper to let it burn and repave the road when an accident occurs than it is to outfit and train every fire department, what's the cheaper solution?

 

OP any updates ?

 

Curious what part of the highway (location) and when, PM if you wish. I don't get up that way too much but wonder if it's near where I go for work occasionally.

I'm sure any vehicle fire has toxins but you are probably right about it moreso in an EV

 

These were flooded vehicles being stored in a lot after hurricane Ian. The internal combustion cars are parked tightly together. The EV’s must have 50’ spacing due to spontaneous combustion risk.


I do think EV’s are an interesting technology, and maybe the risk of a vehicle fire is greater in an ICE vehicle, but I’d say given this photo, the risk of a severe fire is much greater in an EV.

 

https://www.masslive.com/police-fir...s-20000-plus-gallons-of-water-to-put-out.html

 

One technique is to place a trash line under the car, close to batteries, for water or foam and then put a blanket over the entire car - like this one https://bridgehill.com/fire-blankets/car/. Again, only one technique, christ we cannot even agree in the fire service on how to advance a hose or how to pack it on the truck

 

Here is the autoinsuranceez article: https://www.autoinsuranceez.com/gas-vs-electric-car-fires/

You are completely right, this data is garbage for what they are trying to claim. Also, how many more ICE cars are on the road VS EV? This wouldn't show anything meaningful unless it was a percentage.

Lol, from the article: You’re more likely to see a gas car fire after a collision than an electric car fire, simply because electric vehicles aren’t as common on the roads as gas vehicles. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that electric vehicles are less likely to catch fire.

 

Speaking of "let it burn" that is the doctrine for structure fires if there is a battery back up installed in the building. The FD will do a search for victims and rescue them, but will then protect surrounding exposures and let the building burn.

MA has started to require hybrids and EVs to have EV plates. From what my wife was told that is so that responding fire fighters will be able to identity vehicles with Lithium batteries. Since other than Tesla and Rivian, other manufacturers make similar looking EV and ICE vehicles it's possible that they wouldn't be able to tell immediately which is which.

 

I REALLY think that while they may be developing something there is nothing to indicate that anyone has anything ready for production. If they did, it would be advertised in the fire service publications and displayed in the exhibit halls at fire service conferences.

 

So did OP ever get an answer other than needs a new engine?

 

Nothing yet...were all waiting with baited breath.

 

probably waiting for a Corporate Tech/Mechanic to fly in to look at it

 

If I were getting up there in miles i'd probably throw a third party warranty on there for peace of mind. Can be had relatively cheap since its a toyota and not a German automobile.

Now we wait for the diagnostic...