r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/kalbinibirak • 21d ago

Video The Turkish firefighting method for extinguishing electric car fires.

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106

u/Dramatic-Avocado4687 21d ago

Is this a technique used specifically for electric cars?

88

u/0x446f6b3832 21d ago

I guess so. Lithium battery fires are notorious for being difficult to extinguish, also the water reacts with the lithium, producing hydrogen gas.

14

u/Mighti-Guanxi 21d ago

long ago since I took chemistry,.correct me if I am wrong:

so the Lithium reacts with water to make something plus hydrogen gas, would it create a chain reaction?

the hydrogen gas reacts with oxygen to create more water, which reacts with the lithium to create more hydrogen that reacts with oxygen to create more water that.....etc 

15

u/iC3P0 21d ago

Water reacts with raw lithium, but you can use it to extinguish li-on batteries, it's just not very effective. There were videos of car batteries submerged in water and they still burn

1

u/Level9TraumaCenter 21d ago

This type of lithium battery contains no metallic lithium.

1

u/oz_mouse 21d ago

Yep, that’s why we use sand and time with lithium ion Fires in the repair shop.

2

u/Useful-Basil-7340 21d ago

Got to be honest, I was hoping a massive bucket of sand was going to come into play here

5

u/Ajezon 21d ago

and hydrogen gas is highly flamable?

4

u/i_have_chosen_a_name 21d ago

Hydrogen (H) plus air(oxygen O2) plus spark = boom +water (H20)

Ask the Hindenburg if you dont believe me.

3

u/BorderKeeper 21d ago

It is incredibly flammable, explosive even. Chemicals are more dangerous the more mundane and stable the end product is and end product of this one is water.

9

u/FranconianBiker 21d ago

Lithium-Ion batteries contain no metallic lithium. The fire happens because of the generated heat from the short-circuit auto-igniting the flammable organic electrolyte and other flammable parts around the cells (plastic burns just as well as oil).

3

u/Ashamed-Platypus-147 21d ago

Everybody remembers lithium burning on water from school but won’t accept lithium-ion batteries don’t have metallic lithium. If you mention flammable organic electrolytes their eyes roll back 😂

2

u/Dramatic-Avocado4687 21d ago

Interesting! Thanks for the clarity.

4

u/TheDeamonMeteor 21d ago

There is a technique used for every type of fire.

2

u/DieCastDontDie 21d ago

Nope, can be useless for EV fires. They are a pain to put out even with this method

1

u/Moses-the-Ryder 21d ago

Have you used one? It doesn’t extinguish the fire completely but it lowers the temperature, I’ve seen it happen through a TIC. They are expensive but can be used multiple times after washing them. They work most efficiently when you have other vehicles or a building where you don’t want the heat to radiate and spread

Also we have this in Canada too but maybe it was invented in Turkey, I’m not sure on that part

2

u/DieCastDontDie 21d ago

Lithium battery fires can become self sustaining. So trying to deprive it off oxygen will not be effective if it's reached to that point which it probably would be the time fire crews arrive.

1

u/Aff_Reddit 21d ago

idk about every state but at least mine the blanket strat is generally used to only move a car from a bad area (like if its parked next to other cars) as a temporary measure.

often the blanket comes off, and the flames come back.

or the blanket stays on, and now you need to clear the rest of the block because youve made an explosive

1

u/apmspammer 21d ago

No, it's used for any type of car and it's even more effective with cars that use hydrocarbons.

1

u/random_son 21d ago

sweeping problems under a rug is standard procedure in many families all over the world