DAYTON — With more Ohio drivers buying electric vehicles (EVs) firefighters across the state are learning new tactics to battle fires and other hazards caused by lithium-ion batteries.
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EV fires were the subject of a statewide seminar by the Ohio State Fire Marshal last week, where departments from around the state talked about the risks of fires within the batteries of the cars and charging stations at home.
“(EV fires) can release significant amounts of energy and do so for a long period of time,” Dayton Fire Capt. Brad French told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell Monday.
French added Dayton firefighters, like most across the state, are much more familiar with fires involving traditional combustion engines.
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“The fire service is familiar with car fires in combustion engines, less so with lithium-ion batteries in big banks of batteries.”
But during this seminar, the focus by trainers was on tactics and new dangers brought on by batteries and chargers, and not that electric vehicles will bring more dangers.
Early studies from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) indicate over 1,500 gas-powered vehicles are involved in car fires for every 100,000 vehicles. That compares to only 25 car fires for every 100,000 for electric vehicles, per the NTSB study. However those numbers could change as current electric vehicles on the road age.
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For firefighters, preparation and training will be necessary for the dangers posed by electric batteries for cars on the road and for the home-based charging systems with fire and explosion dangers.
“Our primary tactic is large amounts of water, sometimes the amount of water we might expect to use on a house fire or commercial fire,” French said.
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