Posted on 09/25/2023 9:10:21 AM PDT by Red Badger
An electric car exploded into a massive fire ball while sitting on the driveway of a family home, which also caught fire, according to reports.
Emergency fire services were called to a home in Bromborough, Wirral, UK, at around 10 pm after receiving reports that a car was on fire.
The blaze from the electric car was so big the family’s home also caught fire.
According to a report from The Liverpool Echo, the fire blackened the two-story family home.
A man told the outlet that after speaking to the owners of the electric car, they said they believed the blaze was caused by a “malfunctioning electric car battery.”
“I was in bed and heard this popping noise. It sounded like fireworks going off,” the man said.
“I went outside with my mum, and there were bright lights with a car up in flames over the road,” he continued.
“The owner was in the house when it happened but got out,” the man said.
“She told me this morning that the car was only a month old with a thousand miles on the clock and the car battery malfunctioned,” he noted.
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One woman said:
“I heard tyres popping and people came out to see what was going on. Someone started screaming, and people rushed out to help.”
“I saw it happen, and it looked like the fire was coming from where they charged the car. The whole thing was up in flames by the end,” the woman said.
“It was so scary, and my little girl was screaming because she thought something had happened to our house,” she recalled.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said:
“Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service (MFRS) attended an incident on Cooks Acre, Bromborough, on the night of Saturday, 23 September.
Crews were alerted at 9:51 pm and were on scene at 9:57 pm. Three fire engines attended. On arrival, crews found a two-storey detached house with the garage well alight. A car on the drive was also well alight.
Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the property under rapid deployment to fight the fire. The fire was extinguished by 10.10 pm.
MFRS carried out home fire safety checks on the properties on either side of the property and left the scene at 12.21 am.”
In July, Fire brigades in the UK said they are being forced to double the crews sent to blazes involving the technology.
While single fire engines are typically sent to car fires with petrol or diesel engines, fire chiefs are now sending two units for electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries.
Energy stored in the batteries causes massive heat in a process known as ‘thermal runaway,’ which produces ‘rocket-like’ flames.
Essex Fire area manager Jim Palmer said: “The dangers posed by electric vehicle fires do not end with putting out the flames.”
“There have been many cases of electric vehicle fires reigniting sometimes even days after being extinguished.”
I have been out of the business for approaching 15 years but I don’t think that halon would put out a battery fire any faster than what would happen if you just left it alone.
Wow. Interesting.
They already are. Small fender benders that could be fixed for few bucks on a gas vehicle, cause upwards of $20k due to the batteries needing to be replaced. Insurers are totalling cars vs. replacing the battery packs.
This exploding EV was parked ***outside*** their garage. And was charging up as far as I know. But still managed to fire-damage the garage and the house.
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