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27 January 2023
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Michigan fire department adds fire blankets to rigs to handle electric vehicle fires, US
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Shelby Township Fire Department has added fire blankets to its trucks to respond to electric vehicle fires. Already in use in many places, especially to battle car fires in parking garages, the blankets serve as an alternative to using water to extinguish EV fires.
The blankets were procured by the Macomb County Emergency Management Department using grant funds. The blanket extends over the car and is pressed to the ground to deprive the EV fire of oxygen.
Lt Robert Muylaert said that the department anticipates the blankets will be one-time-use equipment. The bottom of the blanket is cinched tight around the vehicle and can be transported with the car after an accident.
A typical car fire can be extinguished in minutes but electric cars burn differently. "It can take four to five hours to extinguish a battery fire and after that, once it gets to a tow yard, they have had those fires reignite, even two to three days afterward," Lt Muylaert said.
That's all due to the way the batteries in the vehicle are positioned. "Once they start to burn, it goes into what is called thermal runaway," he said. "So in that one battery, (it) puts out enough heat and fire to light the battery next to it on fire."
But the blanket can take the heat. "It has Nomex in there, the same type of thing our fire gear is made of," he said. "(It can) withstand temperatures over 2 000 degrees to help suppress the flames."
It smothers the fire, cutting off the oxygen and making sure the fire stays out.
A fire blanket is a one-time use deal, meaning they will cover the vehicle on fire and leave it that way even after it’s towed away to a salvage yard, to prevent it from reigniting.
Not only does the blanket save time, it saves water as well. And thanks to grant secured by the Macomb County Emergency Management Department, the fire fighters will know exactly how to use it, if the need should arise.
"They ordered quite a few of these blankets with some grant dollars and they were distributed to departments within the county," said the lieutenant.
Source: Fox 2
The blankets were procured by the Macomb County Emergency Management Department using grant funds. The blanket extends over the car and is pressed to the ground to deprive the EV fire of oxygen.
Lt Robert Muylaert said that the department anticipates the blankets will be one-time-use equipment. The bottom of the blanket is cinched tight around the vehicle and can be transported with the car after an accident.
A typical car fire can be extinguished in minutes but electric cars burn differently. "It can take four to five hours to extinguish a battery fire and after that, once it gets to a tow yard, they have had those fires reignite, even two to three days afterward," Lt Muylaert said.
That's all due to the way the batteries in the vehicle are positioned. "Once they start to burn, it goes into what is called thermal runaway," he said. "So in that one battery, (it) puts out enough heat and fire to light the battery next to it on fire."
But the blanket can take the heat. "It has Nomex in there, the same type of thing our fire gear is made of," he said. "(It can) withstand temperatures over 2 000 degrees to help suppress the flames."
It smothers the fire, cutting off the oxygen and making sure the fire stays out.
A fire blanket is a one-time use deal, meaning they will cover the vehicle on fire and leave it that way even after it’s towed away to a salvage yard, to prevent it from reigniting.
Not only does the blanket save time, it saves water as well. And thanks to grant secured by the Macomb County Emergency Management Department, the fire fighters will know exactly how to use it, if the need should arise.
"They ordered quite a few of these blankets with some grant dollars and they were distributed to departments within the county," said the lieutenant.
Source: Fox 2