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The unsatisfying response in this case might just be: some fires can't be put out. At least, not quickly enough to matter for anyone inside the car. The prior
by elihu 6y ago
The unsatisfying response in this case might just be: some fires can't be put out. At least, not quickly enough to matter for anyone inside the car. The priority in cases like this might just be to remove occupants from inside the car if possible.
According to Tesla's information, battery fires can be extinguished by using a lot of water. So, it is possible to do with an ordinary fire truck (and self-contained breathing apparatuses so firefighters can get near a burning car without breathing the fumes), but it might actually be a rare case where putting the fire out is consequential to the outcome for the occupants: I'd imagine in most cases they either got out in time or it was already too late by the time putting the fire out is a plausible option. Maybe I'm wrong about that, though.
- cyphar 6y agoIsn't removing occupants of any burning enclosure (be it a car, building, boat, ...) always the first priority? I can't imagine any case where a fire department would pour water on a burning car without first getting people out of it.
- elihu 6y agoI would assume that they'd try to get people out first. My comment is more addressed to people such as myself whose natural inclination is to regard a burning car as a bad situation that the fire department aught to be able to quickly remedy, and to suggest that most of the time putting out the fire may be a low priority. I could imagine the fire department dousing a car if it was already too hot to get people out of safely, but I'm not a fire fighter and I don't know what they'd normally do in that situation.