Fighting a car fire in conventional gas-powered vehicles is pretty straightforward. Get a fire engine to the fire, douse the fire with water and it is out.

Supporting that premise, Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Company has in its archives a video showing a fully-involved car fire being extinguished in 70 seconds. “With a well-trained crew, and using just the water on board an engine, that kind of firefighting performance can be almost routine,” WSVFC Chief Joshua Wells said.

Fighting a fire in an electric vehicle can be a whole different matter said Steve Martin, a firefighter trainer who spoke at a fire safety symposium at the Scott Volvo car dealership along 33rd Street in Salisbury Township, May 12.

Volunteer firefighters from several Lehigh Valley fire stations heard Martin say “Current conventional wisdom is to get water to the underside of an electric vehicle to cool the massive battery packs in the event of a fire. It’s been shown, however, that strategy can require from 5,000 to 25,000 gallons of water, far more than an engine’s typically 500 to 1,000 gallons of capacity. On an interstate highway fire that means bringing in additional engines and tankers, with the attendant highway traffic backups and the firefighter hazards that implies.”

As a representative of ESI Equipment, Inc., of Montgomeryville, Martin demonstrated equipment that has been developed to make the job easier and safer for firefighters called on to respond to an electric vehicle fire.

A classroom-type presentation allowed Martin to help firefighters first determine if a burning vehicle is an electric vehicle, since most are built to look like standard gas-powered vehicles. Special required markings on a vehicle’s body can help first responders know what they are dealing with.

Conventional hoses and nozzles carried on today’s fire engines means firefighters must “bounce” water off the pavement to get it to the underside of an electric vehicle to cool a battery pack.

The inherent risks associated with lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles introduce complexities not seen in conventional vehicles.

The most significant challenges in EV fires are the intense temperatures, toxic vapor clouds, heavy metal exposure and thermal runaway.

Martin showed firefighters how car-sized toxic tarps and special extension nozzles to direct water on the underside of a vehicle can be employed to more safely fight an electric vehicle fire.

“All these threats require special training and equipment,” Martin said as he travels around the region educating firefighters about how to stay safe while doing a dangerous job.

Many of the firefighters expressed their gratitude to the Scott automobile dealership for the specialized training they received.