Sparta has deployed specialized fire blankets designed to extinguish electric vehicle fires.
Sparta Fire Chief Kevin Powers said the department recently acquired the equipment to address the unique challenges posed by lithium-ion battery fires. These blankets provide a solution for thermal runaway, a condition where batteries continue to burn despite traditional firefighting efforts.
“EV fires are a completely different than your traditional car fires because of those batteries and what they call thermal runaway,” Powers said. “They cannot be extinguished traditionally by water like we do with traditional car fires. So the best way is to smother and to have a ability of a blanket that’s heavy enough to withstand the thermal temperatures of a EV car.”
Powers said the blankets are designed to fit all electric vehicles except for commercial models. Powers said the equipment works by removing oxygen from the battery to stop the fire.
“You can actually submerge them in water for a day, bring them out and they’ll still be on fire,” Powers said. “So the best way to mitigate this situation of electric car fires is by doing the EV car fire blanket. And they recognized that there is more and more EV car fires especially traveling on 111 that we see coming through the city.”
Powers said the department is also prepared to assist other agencies throughout the county with the new equipment. Powers said the blankets will allow firefighters to contain fires that they previously had no effective way to fight.
“Instead of being on scene and having worry about the exposures that these EV car fires give off because we can’t extinguish it, we’ll be able to contain it the fire with the car fire blanket and then protect all the exposures,” Powers said. “So our time on scene and property protected around the car fire will be greatly impacted in a positive way.”
Powers said citizens should call 911 immediately if they experience an electric vehicle fire. Powers said individuals should maintain a distance of at least 25 to 50 feet from the vehicle because the fires burn at extremely high temperatures.
“Well, it’s just not EV car fires, you know, now we have these lithium-ion batteries in a lot of stuff that we have, you know, our kids’ toys, scooters, bikes,” Powers said. “So we just need to be careful. We probably don’t want these EV batteries left plugged in once they’re charged, unplug them, and we want to keep them in an area where kind of expect one time or another they may go off.”
Powers said the department is also increasing joint training efforts with the rescue squad and other fire departments in the county. Powers said these collaborations ensure that resources are available in abundance for the residents of White County.