The US National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to investigate the Tesla rig fire that happened in Placer County earlier this week. According to firefighters, electric vehicle fires can be a bit more difficult to put out compared to gas cars. And because of this, investigators will be looking into those fire risks.
You may remember us reporting this a few days ago. Just after 3am on Monday a Telsa semi-truck was driving eastbound on I-80 when it went off the roadway, crashed, and the battery caught on fire near the Emigrant Gap area. This caused the interstate to be shut down both ways for several hours while the fire was burning at one thousand degrees and spewing toxic fumes.
Jesse Corletto, Founder of E-FireX, says, "Those batteries are self-oxidizing and so it makes it very difficult for the fire service with this current agent in the market to extinguish."
Adam Mayberry, communications officer for Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue, explains, "Battery fires require a lot of water, a ton of water, and that's how you really suppress a battery fire. It requires a ton of water."
Corletto says it can take up to 30,000 gallons of water to put out an electric vehicle fire, compared to a gas-powered vehicle that typically only takes up about 700 gallons in a single fire engine. With this in mind, the investigators are expected to mainly look into other possible fire risks posed by lithium-ion batteries.
John Mandell, battalion chief of Reno Fire Department, says, "With lithium-ion batteries, it's a new trend hazard that's coming to the United States."
As more people and companies are resorting to electric vehicles, firefighters are looking for new solutions. The Reno Fire Prevention Bureau is preparing to push information out to educate the public on lithium-ion batteries and how to handle them safely.
Corletto is providing extinguishers specifically for lithium batteries, "You're preparing yourself and your family to give you that time frame to really exit the car correctly, grab your belongings, grab your family while you extinguish that fire."
