Getting a fire under control and extinguishing it is anything but a simple and easy job, especially when it comes to electric cars on fire. Firefighters in Washington have found an effective solution – a specially designed blanket.
When combustion cars are on fire, firefighters usually use large amounts of water, but when it comes to EVs, the process is a little different. In the case of fires in electric vehicles, a lot of heat is generated, and unlike cars with combustion engines, these fires can burn without oxygen. There have been many cases in which the fires have been reactivated several weeks after the original. To reduce the risk, local firefighters transport the vehicle to a storage facility, where it does not pose a threat.
Earlier this week, firefighters in Granite Falls, Washington, were called to extinguish a fire in an electric vehicle. The car caught fire on the road, and when firefighters arrived on the scene, they put a blanket on the car while dousing the battery with water.
Statistics show that in the United States, for every 100,000 electric vehicles sold, 25 of them catch fire. This is negligible when we consider that for the same number of combustion cars sold, 1,530 of them catch fire.
Source: Reuters