Biggest firefighting battle: 18 hours against Cadillac dealership fire

A fire at a Cadillac dealership in Texas destroyed six luxury electric SUVs, including the Escalade IQ, pulling firefighters into a grueling 18-hour battle.

Amir Masoud Abedin: Electric car fires, although according to statistics, they occur less often than gasoline cars; But when they ignite, due to the special structure of the batteries, they produce much higher heat and extinguishing them is a much more complicated challenge. The recent incident at the Texas Cadillac dealership, which started with a car catching fire and eventually led to the complete destruction of 6 luxury SUVs (including the new Escalade IQ models) and damage to two other cars, illustrated a true example of how difficult the battle with lithium-ion batteries is.

Surprise in the scene and battery challenge

According to the utopian report, when rescue forces arrived at the scene of the accident, the flames were spreading from one SUV to the next vehicle at a high speed. In the first minutes, the firefighters realized that they were not dealing with ordinary cars and that all the burning cases were fully electric SUVs.

The biggest challenge in containing these types of fires is that battery packs are designed to be completely waterproof and strong; This structural feature prevents water from directly reaching the ignition center and battery cells. On the other hand, the phenomenon of thermal runaway in batteries means that even after the apparent shutdown, there is a risk of re-ignition for hours.

The tactic of rescuing cars around the fire

Among the published images of this incident, special covers on some cars attracted attention, which were very similar to tarpaulins or heavy blankets. These special tools, called "fire blankets", played a key role in containing the crisis.

Firefighters kept the flames and heat under control by putting these fireproof covers on the burning cars to allow enough time to move other cars in danger. This smart move prevented the fire from spreading to nearby dealerships and surrounding wasteland.

Scientific principles of electric vehicle fire suppression

In its new protocols for dealing with electric vehicle fires, the Institute of Fire Safety Research (UL) emphasizes several important principles: First, the fire in the vehicle cabin should be extinguished to reduce the thermal hazard, and then battery cooling should take place. Drilling or opening the battery case is not recommended at all, and constantly spraying water on an uncooled battery is useless; Rather, the cooling process should continue in a controlled manner until the thermal runaway subsides.

Also, after complete extinguishing, the car must be monitored for hours and kept at least 5 meters away from other flammable objects, because the shocks caused by towing may cause a short circuit and re-ignition of the remaining healthy cells.