How fire crews attack electric vehicle fires

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - High gas prices are leading some drivers to consider electric vehicles. As more EVs hit the road, local fire crews have to adapt to a whole new set of challenges during an emergency. Lithium-ion battery fires burn hotter, emit toxic chemicals, and can even reignite hours after crews arrive on scene. 3

Putting out a traditional car fire usually takes a few hundred gallons of water or foam. But when an electric vehicle catches fire, those called to put it out face an entirely different kind of challenge.

“A gasoline car fire, we can usually put that out with a tank of water or some foam. EV fires, you can’t put them out always with a tank of water or foam,” said Battalion Chief John Brossman with the Logan-Rogersville Fire Department. “Foam actually doesn’t work on them at all. It might work on knocking it down, but it’s actually worse for them. So the biggest thing that we can do is a lot of water. Just as much water as we can call on the scene, or we have to let them burn out.”

Logan-Rogersville Battalion Chief John Brossman says that most of the time, EV fires happen because of a malfunction with the car’s battery system, and the biggest worry is with what departments call “Runaways” with the battery packs.

“They get super hot. They can become explosive,” said Brossman. “There is a potential for explosion with normal cars, but the heat elements that go into the batteries, with them getting so hot, there is a potential for explosion in projectiles as well. Each cell gets hot, and it’ll heat the next one, and the next one, and the next one. That’s why they call it a runaway.”

Firefighters undergo training in order to locate vehicle-specific battery disconnects and navigate the cars’ high-voltage systems.

“There is a disconnection on these cars. That’s something that we’ve been learning and trying to train on is to find a disconnect so we can disconnect that power source,” said Brossman. “That’s on us to learn where they’re all at. We do a lot of training and a lot of studying. We’ve actually had some companies come out and show us where the disconnects are out here during our training sessions.”

Brossman says that if you’re driving an electric vehicle and begin to smell burning or a plastic burning odor, pull over as soon as you safely can, and call 911.

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