To the Rescue: New Vehicle Fires—What You Don’t Know Can Kill You

The April 2020 “To the Rescue” was titled “New Vehicle Extrication—What You Don’t Know Can Kill You.”

Rather than rehash that piece, I encourage you to look it up as it will offer a bit more background into the heart of this article. Simply stated, in the same way that what we don’t know or what we don’t keep up on regarding what goes into new vehicles (that we are tasked to perform extrication ops on) can kill us, so too can new vehicle car fires. I hope this column offers a few of those things that we may not know about so as to inspire us to do more research and perhaps get more updated training on the subject.

NO BREAD AND BUTTER CAR FIRES

There is no longer any such thing as a “run of the mill” vehicle fire. Components, metals, batteries, composites, etc., that go into today’s new vehicles present often-overlooked challenges, dangers, and lookouts. My experience with this subject tells me that we need to rethink everything from tactics and equipment to the effects and limitations of our personal protective equipment.

Related Content

What brought the topic for this article to mind was watching news coverage of nationwide rioting. What caught my attention was the number of vehicles that were lit ablaze and, more importantly, how I saw those fires being fought. Don’t worry, I’m not here to bag on any particular fire departments. What I did see in the vast majority of the footage of vehicle fires being fought disturbed me. Fire after fire showed firefighters within three feet of the burning vehicles with no self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and no face shields deployed. Seeing those images made me wonder, “Why not?” I wondered if my departmental protocols or standard operating procedures (SOPs) wouldn’t dictate “tanking up.” The question brought me to a possible conclusion that maybe they don’t know how much the combustibles in vehicles have changed. Maybe they don’t know that the immediately dangerous to life or health environment of a vehicle fire has changed more than that found in modern structures or even dumpster fires. Does your department’s policy require donning SCBA for vehicle fires or dumpster fires? Ask yourself, why or why not?

The balance of this article will hopefully offer some food for thought that will help you question what type of apparatus should be deployed, the “new” physical and chemical challenges we face, and the chilling reality of the science behind the effects of the products of combustion from these fires on our turnout gear and our bodies.

As just a bit of supportive background, I do work directly with automakers and fire service product manufacturers and their engineers to be able to share the information contained herein. For the sake of full disclosure, I also offer training programs on this and other new vehicle related topics. I’m not soliciting anything in any way. I truly just hope that other training programs, academy programs, and keyboard warrior programs are up to date and offering all of this information. I know firsthand just how challenging these new car fires and lithium ion car batteries can be, and I don’t want to see more tragedy be the only thing that results in change. Proactive, not reactive, right?

CLASS B COMBUSTIBLE METALS

Generally speaking, the average “newer” car that we can find in a junkyard for training (even up to model years of only a couple of years ago) contain an average of 35 pounds of combustible (Class B) metals. Since roughly 2018, that amount of combustible metal (such as magnesium, titanium, aluminum, zirconium, and others) has steadily increased. Today, the amount of Class B metal found in new vehicles has increased to an AVERAGE of 350 pounds. Any firefighter who has encountered a Class B combustible metals fire well understands that the difference between hitting 35 pounds of magnesium with water and 350 pounds of magnesium with water is like the difference between a roman candle firework and a firework warehouse or factory going off. By the way, much of the silver shiny in fireworks is magnesium-based. Are all of your members educated, trained, and experienced in Class D firefighting?

LITHIUM ION BATTERY BASED VEHICLE FIRES

These types of fires are growing in frequency and voracity. Lithium ion battery fires are also considered Class D fires. When thermal runaway happens (the process that causes lithium batteries to ignite), these vehicle batteries resemble and sound like a cross between a small jet engine and a volcano. In addition to VERY toxic gases, hydrogen is produced and released, which makes secondary flash fires and explosions likely if not inevitable. Remember that hybrid vehicles often have these batteries that are shaped like the rear bench seat of the vehicle. They also typically have an eight- to 10-gallon gasoline tank located directly behind them. Most all electric vehicles have battery arrays that are at least the size of the back seat floor area and are located BENEATH the floor and seating. Without getting too deep into the technical and scientific “weeds” here, these are not your average junkyard training vehicles. “Science” (insert chuckle here) shows that (if water can be effective to extinguish these fires) it takes a minimum of 3,000 gallons to obtain an initial knockdown! Studies also show that because of the nature of thermal runaway and autoignition temperatures of these batteries, multiple reignitions are likely.

SMOKE TOXICITY OF LITHIUM ION VEHICLE BATTERY FIRES

Again, without getting too deep into the scientific weeds—please do your own research or contact me for the research—the toxicity level of the smoke from these battery fires is literally off the chart. Additionally, credible studies coming out of Europe suggest that the toxins from the smoke and off gassing of these fires can and do permeate all layers of our turnout gear. Do I have your attention yet?

CONNECTING THE DOTS

When these new vehicles show signs of combustion (I know, what does that mean?), they are rendering extremely toxic smoke and gases before they ignite (show flame) AND DURING OVERHAUL! We have these vehicles with an average of 350 pounds of combustible metals and a very large Class D battery located behind the back seat or underneath the rear floorboard. Are we prepared for 350 pounds of burning magnesium, titanium, zirconium, and aluminum PLUS a burning lithium ion battery in thermal runaway? What if these types of cars “go off” inside a parking structure where they now have charging stations for them? Do we typically dispatch (or even own) a 3,000-gallon tender? How often do we tap a hydrant for a “routine” vehicle fire? Don’t forget that water and foam are contraindicated for Class D fires, but our powder extinguishers do nothing to lower the autoignition temperature of the burning lithium ion battery—that we can’t access anyway. Are we prepared to be on scene of a vehicle fire for multiple hours?

Taking this article back to where I began and in light of the few things that I offered herein, can you see where tanking up for vehicle fires might want to play into your department’s SOPs? I also offer that chief officers in relatively close proximity to these fires might want to consider being fully “geared up” too. I almost forgot to mention that the burning lithium ion car batteries like to spew molten copper and aluminum into the air as they burn. Our gloves, bunker gear, and certainly the chief officer’s station wear are no match for flying, molten metals or the gases that these burning vehicles emit.

Don’t hesitate to let me know if you’d like any of the scientific data or studies referenced in this article.

CARL J. HADDON is a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board and the director of Five Star Fire Training LLC, which is sponsored, in part, by Volvo North America. He served as assistant chief and fire commissioner for the North Fork (ID) Fire Department and is a career veteran of more than 25 years in the fire and EMS services in southern California. He is a certified Level 2 fire instructor and an ISFSI member and teaches Five Star Auto Extrication and NFPA 610 classes across the country.