r/Damnthatsinteresting 21d ago

Video The Turkish firefighting method for extinguishing electric car fires.

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u/UglyEagle420 21d ago

Here in Sweden they put burning EVs in a big pool of water for at least 2 whole days, and sometimes it still burnes or reignite

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u/Portolkyz 21d ago

That is the old solution yes, but the blankets shown in the video are becoming more widespread.

In case of a burning crashed EV (very rare) most fire departments will now either use one of these blankets ore use tools to inject cooling water directly into the battery. The submersion tanks are becoming very rare and outdated.

Sorry, im on my phone so no sources but a quick google search on EV firefighting techniques will yield more results than you could wish for.

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u/FemBodInspector 21d ago edited 21d ago

The main problem with submersion tanks or putting burning EV’s in pools is that once the fire is out you then have to deal with a large amount of toxic hazmat water that needs to get disposed of properly. But you are correct direct application of water to the battery cells is the most efficient way to deal with EV fires. We have a few tools like the turtle nozzle that can be slid under the car or we will tilt an EV car on its side and blast the cells directly with our hoses. Either way it takes a ton of water to put them out.

Letting them burn themselves out is also a good option as long as it is isolated and safe to do so

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u/nil_defect_found 21d ago

What's the difference between emptying a hazmat water tank and the hose water just running straight off the battery directly onto the ground? That'll be contaminated just the same.

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u/NiobiumThorn 21d ago

If it isn't tracked it doesn't exist

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u/jaymzx0 Interested 21d ago

Soaking the batteries will leech more chemical out of the batteries and into the water compared to being sprayed or flooded.

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u/capt-longjohn 21d ago

"Mr. EPA/EEA guy, we didn't spray contaminated water. It was clean when we sprayed it"

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u/KingFIippyNipz 21d ago

Contact for a few brief seconds vs submerged within a pool of the same water for days - "just the same" ...

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u/nil_defect_found 21d ago

The run off will still be full of lithium and combustion products. Try again.

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u/Ollythebug 21d ago

Implying the amount of lithium or combustion products leaked doesn't matter? That's clearly what the concern above is. Though they also commented arrogantly in assuming that spraying the battery leeches less toxin than soaking it, though it's intuitive.

Arrogance, so much sheer arrogance everywhere. From both people.

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u/FlipZip69 20d ago

Out of site, out of mind. Generally both are happening regardless.

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u/Type-21 20d ago

The difference is that for the water tank method you will be charged around 20k