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Originally Posted by kdauto
I'm not going to address the misinformation and fear on EV fires and such. Any modern fire department knows how to extinguish these fires efficiently and safely.
For those thinking any ICE fire is easy to put out, take note of the use of magnesium in some vehicles and how that ramps up fire temps. A burning steering column on some Ford and other trucks can not be extinguished. Water splashed on the fore will create explosions.
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Having been employed by a "modern fire department" for more than 30 years, your first statement is incorrect. EV fires are exceedingly rare, and most departments have had very few or none. However, there really is no practical way to extinguish an EV fire once the car is well involved. There is lots of talk and speculation about special equipment and techniques to extinguish these fires, but at this point that's all it is, talk. The reality is that an EV gets going, it's going to take several hours and several thousand gallons of water to put it out.
As to your second statement, ICE car fires are generally easy to put out. The small magnesium assemblies will pop and spit and cause a little excitement, but 100+ gallons of water per minute applied correctly takes care of this in short order. Back in the day we would occasionally get an engine fire in an air-cooled VW, and if the block got going it could be a little challenging to put out. But I've been on hundreds of car fires, and the vast majority of them were put out on tank water (500 gallons or less).
Again, EV fires are exceedingly rare, but once they get going, they don't go out until all the energy in the battery has been released- by burning.
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