Electronic vehicles are providing consumers with an environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional methods of transportation. 

But, as they rise in popularity, first responders, like Robert Gandee the Fire Chief at Willoughby Hills Fire Rescue, are learning that they bring new challenges if they catch on fire.

What You Need To Know

  • Electronic vehicle fires can burn hotter and last longer than traditional vehicle fires

  • Willoughby Hills Fire Rescue recently received a new fire blanket to help combat these fires

  • The fire blanket has the potential to save water and reduce the potential for contamination 

“There’s a lot of things that have gone over in the time, for especially my career in the fire service, and watching technology change,” Gandee said. “Lithium ion technology has been both a blessing and a curse.”

Lithium ion batteries in electric vehicles present new challenges for firefighters because they can burn hotter and longer than fires from traditional combustion engines. At Willoughby Hills Fire Rescue, they are using new technology including a fire blanket to help combat this issue.

Gandee said the fire blanket is specifically for vehicle fires but has some other potential uses as well. 

The chief explained that typically, electric vehicle fires require thousands of gallons of water to extinguish, versus a conventional vehicle that typically needs only a few hundred gallons of water.

He said because this blanket eliminates the need for so much water to extinguish flames, it reduces the potential of contamination in runoff water.

“It does the extinguishment by isolating the oxygen from the vehicle or whatever is on fire," he explained.

Once placed, the 65-pound blanket may need to stay on the car for hours or even days due to reports of electric vehicle fires reigniting.

“The reality is that electric vehicles have created a whole number of challenges for us  to address and figure out how are we going to deal with this,” he said. “When people have problems or a bad day, then they call us, and we have to be able to handle these situations so this is another tool in our toolbox to give us the ability to address that new challenge.”