3 ms·

Don't firefighters carry some kind of foam by default? After all there's a lot of grease fires(cars, kitchens) out there.

javagram 5y ago
Foam is not as effective against electrical fires and the manufacturers recommend using water, not foam, on a lithium-ion electric car fire.
wil421 5y ago
Not usually in the US unless it’s at an Airport. Although larger metros may have specialists. A couple friends of mine are firefighters in a very large city and they will help other counties or cities out with special situations. It all depends on what department has what specialists.
wongarsu 5y ago
In Germany they often have special nozzles that add some foaming agent to the water to create a water-based foam. They might also have a couple of foam fire extinguishers for cases where you need something that isn't water. I think the general practice for EVs around here (in larger cities at least) is to extinguish it with water, then put them in a container full of water for 24 hours.
- kyleee 5y ago
  What's done with the water afterwards? I assume it's a large volume of contaminated (in various ways) water?
kube-system 5y ago
According to GM: > Use copious amounts of water to cool the battery to extinguish the fire https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/Training/AFV/Emergency-Response-Guides/Chevrolet/Chevrolet-Bolt-EV-2017-2019-QRG.ashx?la=en https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/Training/AFV/Emergency-Re...
jhayward 5y ago
Foam interrupts the "oxygen" side of the heat-fuel-oxygen fire triangle. Unfortunately, lithium-ion batteries make their own oxygen when heated, so it doesn't help to smother them. The advice is to use copious amounts of water to cool the batteries, removing the "heat" leg of the triangle. This works but requires extended periods of cooling support due to the possibility of internal shorts re-supplying the heat, and starting the process again.
- taf2 5y ago
  Maybe we can shoot liquid nitrogen- like in terminator 2 to freeze the battery
  - notriddle 5y ago
    Pumping huge amounts of pure nitrogen into the atmosphere sounds like a suffocation risk.
    - frandroid 5y ago
      Outdoors?
pengaru 5y ago
Fortunately not, and we definitely don't want to increase the amount of PFAS getting into the environment and poisoning our water supplies.

javagram 5y ago

Foam is not as effective against electrical fires and the manufacturers recommend using water, not foam, on a lithium-ion electric car fire.

wil421 5y ago

Not usually in the US unless it’s at an Airport. Although larger metros may have specialists. A couple friends of mine are firefighters in a very large city and they will help other counties or cities out with special situations. It all depends on what department has what specialists.

wongarsu 5y ago

In Germany they often have special nozzles that add some foaming agent to the water to create a water-based foam. They might also have a couple of foam fire extinguishers for cases where you need something that isn't water. I think the general practice for EVs around here (in larger cities at least) is to extinguish it with water, then put them in a container full of water for 24 hours.

kyleee 5y ago
What's done with the water afterwards? I assume it's a large volume of contaminated (in various ways) water?

kube-system 5y ago

According to GM: > Use copious amounts of water to cool the battery to extinguish the fire https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/Training/AFV/Emergency-Response-Guides/Chevrolet/Chevrolet-Bolt-EV-2017-2019-QRG.ashx?la=en https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/Training/AFV/Emergency-Re...

jhayward 5y ago

Foam interrupts the "oxygen" side of the heat-fuel-oxygen fire triangle. Unfortunately, lithium-ion batteries make their own oxygen when heated, so it doesn't help to smother them. The advice is to use copious amounts of water to cool the batteries, removing the "heat" leg of the triangle. This works but requires extended periods of cooling support due to the possibility of internal shorts re-supplying the heat, and starting the process again.

taf2 5y ago
Maybe we can shoot liquid nitrogen- like in terminator 2 to freeze the battery
- notriddle 5y ago
  Pumping huge amounts of pure nitrogen into the atmosphere sounds like a suffocation risk.
  - frandroid 5y ago
    Outdoors?

pengaru 5y ago

Fortunately not, and we definitely don't want to increase the amount of PFAS getting into the environment and poisoning our water supplies.