Federal regulators warn of risks to
firefighters from electrical vehicle fires
NBC News,
by
Cyrus Farivar
Original Article
Posted By: NorthernDog,
6/20/2021 9:08:44 AM
It’s the kind of blaze that veteran Chief Palmer Buck of The Woodlands Township Fire Department in suburban Houston compared to “a trick birthday candle.” On April 17, when firefighters responded to a 911 call at around 9:30 p.m., they came upon a Tesla Model S that had crashed, killing two people, and was now on fire. They extinguished it, but then a small flare shot out of the bottom of the charred hulk. Firefighters quickly put out those flames. Not long after, the car reignited for a third time. “What the heck? How do we make this stop?’” Buck
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Omen55 6/20/2021 9:23:00 AM (No. 821264)
Start with a test case in suing EV makers for this dangerous condition & waste of resources such as water in putting it out.
They should compensate FDs for it.
Could make for an interesting court case.
21 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
SkeezerMcGee 6/20/2021 9:23:04 AM (No. 821265)
TOP TESLA FIRES COMPILATION VIDEO! Watch as these Tesla cars & batteries catch on fire and explode!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsuYxFBHsiQ
12 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Safari Man 6/20/2021 9:44:42 AM (No. 821291)
Remember when people painted flames on the sides of their cars? Tesla gives you the real deal at no extra cost.
31 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
bpl40 6/20/2021 9:50:54 AM (No. 821297)
More than firefighters, occupants of a crashed EV are at high risk. Risk which is being deliberately under played.
21 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Knotwyrkin 6/20/2021 9:53:57 AM (No. 821305)
I envision a thick-walled steel box with a closable lid. Use a long arm fork lift to pick up the car, dump it in the box, and close the lid.
10 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
franq 6/20/2021 9:54:45 AM (No. 821306)
The Green New Deal. Smokin'.
21 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
czechlist 6/20/2021 10:27:15 AM (No. 821345)
Smothering with CO2? Ironic.
12 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Flyball Dogs 6/20/2021 10:27:33 AM (No. 821346)
Idiot environmentalists.
All EV cars in Kalifornia, where there are water restrictions .. and… (wait for it) …. DROUGHTS.
All their clean air potentially going up in smoke.
16 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 6/20/2021 10:30:44 AM (No. 821351)
The NBC story is completely wrong, I suspect they are purposely lying by omission. Using water to put it out can be like using rocket fuel because Lithium reacts with water, forming hydrogen gas (Note they use hydrogen for most rocket engines). Sure if charged the stored energy can be very dangerous if they cut into the car with the jaws of life or in anyway touch the high voltage electrical circuit but that isn't what causes the bad fires. Now why do you think NBC forgot to mention that its the basic lithium battery that is the danger, could they have an agenda?
17 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
DVC 6/20/2021 11:03:14 AM (No. 821381)
This is really not any kind of a small thing.
About a year ago I was discussing some maintenance work on my 4Runner with a Toyota factory tech and the topic of the Prius came up. He said that they had ONE tech who was qualified to work on them. Until that guy had removed the battery, no other tech was allowed to work on anything beyond simple, basic stuff. The technician pointed out...."Get ahold of the wrong thing in one of those and you are DEAD. Boom, over."
IIRC 386 volts DC, and those batteries are capable of putting out many thousands of amperes. By comparison, for the electrically unaware, a household socket has 110 volts and can put out about 15 or 20 amps. Don't EVER fool around with hybrids or electric vehicles. They can absolutely kill you instantly if you touch the wrong stuff.
17 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Heraclitus 6/20/2021 11:11:14 AM (No. 821394)
Then, in the manufacture of these batteries poisonous chemicals are released into the waterways and air. Then, how do you disposed of these hazardous chemical-laden batteries?
Then, what source is there for charging the batteries? well we know of course. No amount of windmills or solar panels will provide enough energy to power this economy.
What kind of mind thinks returning to the Middle Ages for power (windmills) or the Stone Age (sun "power") is a scientific advancement? What's next, whale oil for street lamps and indoor lighting? Sure it's fun to think we can utilize natural phenomena, they're such nice things (/s), to run a modern economy, but it is not possible, certainly not now.
12 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Videodrone 6/20/2021 12:18:19 PM (No. 821445)
A long time tinkerer in model aircraft and Estes rockets I had the idea of building a drone OV-10 type craft, I believe I found most of the ways that don't work!
One such attempt did a hard crash into the local creek and ruptured the Li battery (from a DJI Phantom 2 which is somewhat protected) and it took over an hour to burn out!
8 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
stablemoney 6/20/2021 12:19:24 PM (No. 821446)
The electric vehicles are fire bombs. Any major accident is going to incinerate the occupants. For fire fighting, maybe a special type of foam, which does not rapidly evaporate, like water. The foam will be another mess to clean up, and likely require a biohazard vacuum truck. And more great news for electric vehicle owners. Texas is building more wind power for your charging stations, so expect to wait until the wind is blowing for your re-charging. Otherwise, enjoy the 3 hour stop overs at the re-charging stations. I wonder if these vehicles have any used car value, as the cost of a battery replacement would be very high. I think I will stick with my gas powered vehicle, which does a great job, so why switch to something else?
6 people like this.
Electric vehicles are a fire hazard. They can go up in flames just sitting in your garage (not running) and there goes your house as well.
I have heard of the same problem with solar panels on houses. Those fires just won't go out and electrical short circuits can be hard to detect. Many FD's have regulations to let the structure with solar panels burn to the ground.
Thanks California.
7 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 6/20/2021 1:01:45 PM (No. 821475)
tell me again how "green" electric cars are.
5 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
DVC 6/20/2021 2:22:54 PM (No. 821524)
#14, the problem with solar panels is on large arrays there are good economic/engineering reasons to connect the panels in series to increase the output voltage. Many of the arrays are wired to put out 400 volts (roughly there seems to be no standard), which can be instantly lethal. The problem that firefighters have is: What do you do if you come to the roof of a big box building, with a fire burning, and see row after row of solar panels? Play water on them and get electrocuted?
If it is night, OK, but in daytime, there is no "off" possible for making the panels safe. They WILL each put out their voltage as long as the sun shines on them. Throw a tarp over them? A typical single panel has an output of 15-28 volts, so if you isolate EACH AND EVERY PANEL by disconnecting it from all others...you have relatively safe voltage. With 50 or 100 panels on a large roof...how do you isolate each panel electrically from all others, in a hurry?
I suspect that they may be changing the electrical code to require some sort of a way to have a central way to isolate each panel. This would require relays or electronic equivalent at each panel, lots of control wires, expensive but doable.
The fact that a battery or a solar panel has no inherent "off" capability is potentially quite dangerous, as far as electrical shock hazard.
5 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
24tea@Mag 6/21/2021 12:18:44 AM (No. 821816)
Biden and the loony liberals are fast destroying our planet and our lives. Take your EV and the green new deal and shove it where the sun don’t shine.
0 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Edgelady 6/21/2021 11:01:16 AM (No. 822146)
There seems to be all sorts of "heretofore" unknown aspects of alternate energy things: burning forever electric cars, windmills that need wind, solar panels that need sun and no guarantees on that, not to mention but solar panels and windmills have become a problem as hazardous waste once they stop working, and they don't product that much energy. What's the point, besides Democrats loving their boondogles?
0 people like this.
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It took 28,000 gallons of water to extinguish the electric car fire. The usual amount is 300 gallons.