FLORENCE, Ala. (WHNT) — The Florence Fire Department went through training for electrical vehicle fires.
Electric vehicles, becoming more popular, are out on the roadways. Jason Kelley, training chief at Florence Fire, said his department is seeing electric cars frequently.
“They absolutely have grown in popularity over the last several years,” Kelley said.
But the vehicle fires are common, and electric vehicle fires are not as common.
“The biggest concern with electrical vehicle fires is the battery going into thermal runaway, that occurs when an individual cell becomes damaged,” Kelley said.
The electric vehicle fires are also harder to handle, according to the Florence Fire Department.
“It starts a chain reaction through thermal propagation, which starts involving other individual cells and when that happens, it becomes very difficult to extinguish those types of fires,” Kelley said.
Kelly tells News 19, he held a special training solely focused on how to get an EV fire out.
“Large amount of water, cooling as much as possible, exposure protection is gonna be a big hazard if it’s in a parking deck near a structure, then we’ll have to cool down as much as we can,” Kelley said.
The main tool used in an EV fire is a fire blanket.
“The fire blanket is what it sounds like, it basically goes over the electric vehicle that is on fire and it doesn’t let any of the flames out, it helps contain it and get it taken care of,” Kelly said.
Kelly also says, if you own or drive an EV.
“The biggest thing I can say is anybody that owns electric vehicles to always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on the type of charging stations used, charging procedures and, of course, any maintenance issues that need to be taken care of,” Kelly said.
If you own or drive an EV, and have any questions or concerns about fire safety or fire hazards, reach out to the Florence Fire Department.
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