Fire officials raise concerns over EV fires

How will fire departments tackle EV fires? CTV's Bryan Bicknell looks at how fire departments are preparing to deal with electrical vehicle fires, which require more water to put out.

Concerns are coming to light over how much water it takes to put out an electric vehicle (EV) fire. It comes as the federal government mandates all new vehicles to be electric by 2035.

“The technology of electric vehicles when they’re on fire is certainly changing faster than the fire service is keeping up with,” said Perth Fire Chief Bill Hunter, a firefighter educator.

Some fire services are sounding the alarm.

According to the International Association of Fire and Rescue Services, firefighters need to use up to 40 times more water to put out a fire in an EV compared to a standard gasoline car.

That’s about 40,000 gallons on average. Hunter said he’s heard reports that it has taken as much as 250,000 gallons of water to put out an EV fire, and that the vehicle can burn for days.

He said this is especially a concern for rural fire departments that don’t always have quick access to water to fight a fire.

“Having an EV fire in an area that doesn’t have fire hydrants is certainly going to be a challenge. And I think that’s why we have to look at different technologies rather than just simply pouring lots of water on the fire,” said Hunter.

He said new technologies to put out fires are starting to come on stream, such as fire blankets. “The fire blankets, which we actually do carry, they’re designed to smother a vehicle fire.”

Even if the federal government’s targets are not reached by the deadline, there will still be an increasing number of green vehicles on the road.

Advocates say whether it’s the hydro grid or fire services, the infrastructure will need to develop quickly for the new plugged-in reality.

Brendon Sweeney of the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing said EV fire concerns have not yet been on his radar. He believes infrastructure deficiencies will be addressed as they emerge.

“We’ll be learning about the effect of charging infrastructure on the grid. The real-time information will be much more accurate. When it comes to servicing these vehicles, we’ll be learning about that, we’ll be learning about the supply chain, and strengths, and where the potential bottlenecks are,” said Sweeney.

In the meantime, Hunter is calling for the government to develop new regulation that addresses EV fire concerns.

“If the government is going to be mandating that all vehicles sold are going to be EV… I think the governments need to step up and say to the fire departments, ‘What can we do to assist you so that you can deal with all these extra EVs that are on the road,” said Hunter.