Posted on 12/27/2023 6:55:36 AM PST by Red Badger
VIDEO AT LINK...............
AUTAUGA COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA) - An electric vehicle crashed and caught fire Monday night in Autauga County.
According to the Pine Level Fire Department, units were called to a traffic accident with a vehicle fire around 11:15 p.m.
At the scene, firefighters found a Tesla Model Y in flames. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency was already on the scene and had closed the interstate.
The driver was uninjured and had escaped the vehicle before the fire department arrived, officials say.
ALEA identified the driver as 33-year-old Michael Sherrill, a Georgia resident. Sherrill was arrested and taken to the Autauga County jail. He is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and is being held on $5,000 bail.
Firefighters say due to the thermal runaway of the Tesla’s battery, the fire required over 36,000 gallons of water before it was brought under control in a little over an hour.
Pine Level Fire Chief Austin Worcester said a typical car fire can take between 300 to 1,000 gallons to put out, depending on how advanced the vehicle is. He said the extra water needed in this case was “typical of an electric vehicle fire.”
There is technology that can help reduce the amount of water needed to put out an electric car fire, but the chief said it is too expensive for the volunteer fire department.
“The device that Montgomery fire department has is about $35,000. That’s over a third of my budget each year. And that’s just undoable for us right now,” he said.
Worcester discussed the lithium batteries such vehicles use, saying they can be damaged and emit toxic gases that can produce acid in the lungs.
“They can re-ignite hours, even days later. And the lithium produces toxic gases,” he said.
Pine Level Fire Department 1d · At 11:14 pm, your Pine Level Firefighters were dispatched to a traffic accident with a reported vehicle fire. When units first responded, Autauga Co E-911 advised our units that an electric vehicle was involved. Assistance was immediately requested from Marbury, Booth, Independence, White City, Old Kingston, and Verbena Fire Departments, along with Haynes Ambulance, ALEA, Autauga Co EMA, ALDOT, and Autauga Co Sheriff’s Office. (see the explanation why below). When the first engine arrived, they found a Tesla Model Y automobile fully involved in fire. ALEA had closed the interstate. It was determined the driver of the vehicle was uninjured and had escaped the vehicle before the fire department arrived. 2 hose lines were deployed and due to the thermal runaway of the vehicle’s batteries, this fire required over 36,000 gallons of water before the fire was brought under control in a little over an hour. A total of 3-Engines, 2-Rescues, 1-Ambulance, 4-Water Tankers, 1-Squad, 1-Brush Truck, and 3-Command Vehicles ultimately responded to this fire. This was a first for Autauga County. Electric vehicle fires are unusual and present unique challenges and dangers to firefighters. These vehicles can reignite hours or days after they are first extinguished. They burn at temperatures exceeding 2500 degrees C. The smoke from these burning electric cars produces Hydrogen Flouride and Hydrogen Chloride gases - both of which are toxic to breath and requires firefighters to wear breathing apparatus. We’re grateful to all of the agencies (all of whom are staffed by professional volunteers) who left their families late on Christmas Day to support and protect their communities! The driver of the vehicle was taken into police custody by ALEA. Please direct media inquiries to ALEA.
Multiple fire departments and law enforcement agencies, including the Autauga County Sheriff’s Office, also responded to the scene.
Officials say a fire of this kind was a first for Autauga County, but Worcester said he worries that the increased use of electric vehicles could lead to more fires like this one.
bttt
Next time try covering with loads of dirt. Mount Electric.
Enough to fill a very large swimming pool
As I understand it, an EV (lithium)battery burns under water because of the oxygen in the water. Dirt is supposed to smother the flames and deprive the fire of oxygen and it then goes out. Unless there is a different cumbustion process at work for EV battery fires.
Alright. My understanding is incomplete. Just another reasob not to get an EV if fires are so difficult to put out!
Pretend they are Oil Well fires and blow the damned thing up to extinguish the flames.
I don’t think you can deprive the fire from oxygen. It’s built in.
As I understand it you can also spray it down with Ground up Liberals.
Why didn’t they just let it burn out? Seems like it was threatening nothing nearby.......
Please translate....
Letting it burn takes how long ? and does it matter where it’s at ?
I was a firefighter. Our main engine was a Spartan Metro Star with 1,000 gal capacity. In all the car fires to which we responded, we never had to suction our Peterbilt Tanker.
After the fires it usually took 300-600 gals to top off.
Doesn’t work that way.
Chemical fire......................
Maybe it won’t, but I would love to watch them try a few thousand times...
I really need to remember to do a little research first before commenting.
Here’s a short article that explains action-oriented methods for putting out EV fires. And why none of them are ultimately as good as just lettinv the thing burn itself.
“I assume someone is working on a foam or some other method of putting out these battery fires.”
Foam is available. Most counties and towns can’t afford it. Big cities are more likely to have it.
Last paragraph of the above article:
“If the battery box is intact and there are no exposures, the best solution is to simply wait for the battery to burn itself out, then extinguish the remaining class A fire. While this strategy is not ideal – and not one favored by aggressive, proactive and eager firefighters – it’s really the best approach. It should only take an hour for the battery to burn itself out. The alternative will be to continually dump water on the vehicle for 6 to 8 hours.”
Gas fire: 1,500 degrees, once out it’s out.
Battery fire: 4,500 degrees, can reignite days or weeks later.
On the bright side, 33-year-old Mr. Michael Sherrill will not have to worry about junking his EV when the clock hits 100k and there are no buyers for it. He just “sold” it to his insurance company.
Electric cars are imperfect—its like Nuke power==Once thought to solve all our problems. We haven’t figured out nukes yet—what to do with the spent rods—Same with the cars. We will figure them out—in time. Maybe 100 years. Once people thought we would be driving nuclear cars too.
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