The Wakefield Fire Department and Massachusetts State Police responded to a one-car accident on Interstate 95 in Wakefield on Thursday night.
When they arrived at the scene, they saw a Tesla electric vehicle “wedged onto the guardrail in the right breakdown lane,” according to a Wakefield Fire Department press release.
The driver had been able to exit the vehicle and declined medical attention.
But as workers were trying to remove the vehicle from the highway, “the guardrail pieced the undercarriage, causing the lithium-ion batteries to go into a thermal runaway,” the statement said.
The car burst into flames.
“A full box alarm assignment was ordered per Shift Command. … Multiple surrounding mutual aid communities responded as well to support firefighting operations and to create a water shuttle to bring water continually to the scene.”
Engines from five nearby towns were called to assist.
In the end, it took firefighters over two and a half hours and over 20,000 gallons of water to extinguish the blaze.
Simply put, an electric vehicle fire is difficult to put out. And this one was no different.
Once the fire had been extinguished, a hazmat team was required to inspect the scene before what was left of the Tesla could be towed away. Firefighters were also required to notify the Department of Environmental Protection.
This is a growing concern for firefighters. When these electrical vehicles catch fire, they often require more resources and much more water than a typical vehicle fire. https://t.co/nwoK4fC4tV
— Lexington FF’s L1491 (@LexFire_L1491) January 20, 2023
Electrical vehicle fires are proving to be a challenge for firefighters.
Wakefield Fire Department Provisional Chief Thomas Purcell explained that when gas-powered car catches fire, they “work to get as much water on it as possible. We are going to knock that down with half a tank of water or a full tank in most cases,” WBZ-TV reported.
Purcell said when the lithium-ion batteries underneath the vehicle are the hazard. “If those battery packs go into thermal runaway, which is just a chemical reaction, then they get super-heated and they run away. You can’t put them out. They don’t go out. They reignite. And they release tremendously toxic gases.” Flames can reach temperatures of 2500 degrees, he said.
“As sales of electric and hybrid vehicles increase, the fire service is continuing to modify our tactics to properly respond, protect property and firefighters as well as control these types of fires.”
“Fighting vehicle fires is inherently dangerous. When responding to an electric or hybrid vehicle fire there are additional challenges responding crews must consider. Fire companies on the scene of an electrical vehicle fire should expect longer time frames to manage and control EV vehicle fires, ensure that large, continuous, sustainable water supply is established, as well as maintain heightened situational awareness and prepare for secondary fires.”
“The crews did a great job, especially in the middle of storm conditions – on a busy highway,” Purcell said. “All responding mutual aid companies from the surrounding communities that assisted were fantastic and greatly helped the Wakefield Fire Department in controlling the incident.”
EVs underperform in cold weather. They take forever to charge. They lose battery when they’re idle. This is just one more reason not to buy an electric vehicle.
A previous version of this article appeared in The Western Journal.
If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN
Truth Social: @AFNN_USA
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAzcXmIRjODNh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfnnUsa
GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/AFNN_USA
Parler: https://parler.com/AFNNUSA
CloutHub: @AFNN_USA
Putting water onto a lithium driven fire is like pouring diesel fuel onto virtually any other fire. Lithium and water do not play well together. Rather than extinguishing a lithium based fire, water accelerates that fire. YouTube is filled with examples of the interaction between water and lithium.
I replaced two iPhone batteries, one which went well. That was the first. The second one didn’t go so well. While I was prying the battery out of the last one, a spark ignited the battery when I grounded out the positive to the chassis of the phone. That’s all it took. It was at the moment that the battery was freed from the chassis. I ran very fast to the bathroom sink and dropped it in. I can vouch for water not being able to stop the reaction of a lithium fire. If anything, it exacerbated the problem. It got to the point that I was more worried about the porcelain of the sink than the fiery battery, which had to burn out on its own. That stuff burns very hot!
At least it consumed itself, and didn’t burn the house down. Amazingly, the phone worked after the battery was replaced. Multiply to the amount of lithium you are sitting on, in a Tesla, and that’s one heck of a fire hazard.
“Multiply to the amount of lithium you are sitting on, in a Tesla, and that’s one heck of a fire hazard.”
Indeed, by three orders of magnitude.
I have to wonder about the vintage of the Tesla in this incident. In the newer models the battery is a structural component of the chassis and, probably, more robust. However, nothing is indestructible. OTOH, newer chemistry makes the latest generation of batteries less susceptible to this problem. But, given the history of media, we can be certain that the cycle goes something like this: They clamor and gen up demand for more ‘fuel efficient’ automobiles and then, when the newer vehicles begin to exhibit their vulnerabilities, they follow on with phantasmagorical headlines and dramatic photos and footage, even if they have to fake the stories to push that new narrative.