A Tesla Model Y engulfed in flames closed an interstate freeway and required the help of myriad Alabama emergency companies on Christmas evening. To extinguish the hearth, Pine Level Firefighters reported utilizing 36,000 gallons of water over the course of an hour, additional highlighting the methods native companies might wrestle to cope with automobile crashes and fires on this new electrified period.
Pine Level firefighters have been dispatched to the Autauga County scene at 11:14 p.m.; as soon as there, they shortly realized they’d need assistance. Fire departments from Marbury, Booth, Independence, White City, Old Kingston and Verbena additionally responded to the hearth, together with ambulance companies, police, and the Alabama Department of Transportation.
It took two hose strains, 36,000 gallons of water, three engines, two rescues, one ambulance, 4 water tankers, one squad, one brush truck, three command autos, and a full hour to place out the flame in what the Pine Level Fire Department known as “a first for Autauga County.”
The driver of the Model Y escaped the hearth unhurt, authorities stated, and was taken into police custody.
EV battery fires are notoriously tough to extinguish; when a battery catches hearth, it could actually’t be doused in water or “starved out” like regular fires ensuing from combustion. Instead, the hearth could cause one thing known as “thermal runaway,” the place one remoted hearth could cause different battery cells to overheat and likewise ignite, releasing dangerous fumes within the course of because of the excessive heats. The residual warmth also can trigger the battery to re-ignite hours and even days later. Without any particular gear, it could actually take firefighters tens of 1000’s of gallons of water to try to quell the blaze, and even then, some consultants merely counsel letting the hearth burn out or dousing the automobile in filth.
Earlier this 12 months, we reported on a unique Tesla catching on hearth and requiring 6,000 gallons of water to extinguish, whereas a fiery Nissan Leaf close to Nashville required 45,000 gallons and a number of other hours to place out. For context, a fireplace in a combustion-engined automobile typically requires about 500 to 1,000 gallons of water to utterly extinguish.
Source: jalopnik.com