Montgomery County Fire Service requests fire blankets to put out potential EV blazes
CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – In an effort to stay ahead of rising technology, the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Service has asked the Budget Committee to consider buying four car fire blankets, specifically made for electric vehicle fires.
“With electric vehicles being produced now, what we’re finding out from different fire departments throughout the country is the problems they’re having,” said Fire Training Officer Kevin Falsetto. “So, we just want to be ahead of the game by being proactive. The problem with the EV vehicles is the amount of water it takes to extinguish them. They can catch on fire today and then you can put it out and it’ll reignite a day or two later.”
Fire Training Officer Logan Face added that it takes around 40 times more water to extinguish an electric vehicle fire than a conventual car fire.
“So, it’s not that it’s a higher risk of catching fire, it’s that when it does catch on fire, we can’t extinguish it with our normal tactics,” Face told Clarksville Now. “That’s why a lot of companies are doing research now, because it is an obvious need for fire services.”
How it works
When asked how long the fire blanket should be left on an electric vehicle fire, Face said that there is some research out there currently, but it all depends on the vehicle and how much fire has spread.
“With these (fire) blankets, you take away the oxygen by smothering the vehicle,” Face said. “You put it on, you smother it, then you remove it and hopefully with the water on the trucks we can finish extinguishing it. The blanket may not fully extinguish the fire, but it certainly helps and acts as a reset.”
Falsetto said there are some fire departments around the country who’ve talked about fully submersing the vehicles. “Once they get to the incident site on the wrecker, they leave the cover on, and take them (the EV) to a pool of water to submerge them for a couple of weeks.”
Budget Committee request
Montgomery County Fire Chief Ed Baggett said his department requested the purchase of four car fire blankets in this next year’s budget. Baggett said the blankets cost almost $2,000 each and are for one-time use.
“You can get them where they’re reusable, but you have to send them off to be deconned, which costs $1,000 each time,” Baggett said. “The ones that can be deconned are twice the cost as the ones that can’t be.”
There is also a weight difference between the two.
“I think it’s important we get ahead of the ball game,” Baggett said. “If we don’t and we have one (EV fire), it’s going to take an enormous amount of water, and don’t know that we’ll put it out.”
Over the next several weeks, the Montgomery County Budget Committee will finalize next fiscal year’s budget.
