https://fox40.com/news/california-connection/how-tesla-suggests-firefighters-stop-a-tesla-semi-fire/
A better suggestion would be to not have them at all, but that horse has already left the barn.
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That article is longer on words than it is on information about extinguishing an EV battery fire. I can’t see it says more than just wait until you think it’s out and then take the temperature of the battery terminals, and be careful towing it away.
Dumbass truck should be able to drive itself home, no??
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Wait till Hotshot crews need to carry battery’s instead of sigs.
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On the contrary, but a few local city departments in California have contracts in place with refuse rolloffs. They get a EV fire, call for a rolloff, use the FD skid steer and push the EV into the container, shut the water tight doors and filler up.
We also got to see a EV that was submerged overnight in a trip to Scotland in similar circumstances.
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Not every place has that. Must be nice, just saying.
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Caltrans has tow trucks on the bay bridges staffed by Caltrans for breakdowns. I imagine it won’t be long b4 they figure something out for these situations with the EV commerce growing every year . Shutting down an interstate has significant impact for various reasons. Doesn’t have to be only logistically mitigated by FDs.
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It is going to be harder to maintain a watertight container that can fit a full size semi, along with a tractor to shove it around…
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Just give it time.
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They have tractor semis that act as a push truck in the winter months.
A over than 102” wide 5 sided steel box with doors doesn’t sounds to hard to engineer.
Not arguing, but I’m sure the thousands of freight companies delayed by I80 closed would support the plan. Along with CHP
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EV is the future and it makes sense to try and find alternatives from IC for a whole bunch of reasons. But taking that out of the story… how about thinking about gasoline…
I would suggest that if gasoline were invented today it would not be allowed to be purchased or used by the general public.
It is a highly combustible… explosive liquid with a flammability range which allows it combust at temperatures below zero. It is volatile… with a vapor pressure where it can quickly create explosive gasses in enclosed spaces. It is toxic and poisonous and is a carcinogen. It is lighter than water and floats on the surface of water and spreads out over large areas once it enters the water.
Anything with those properties would require a license or permit to handle. Yet… we see people filling cheap plastic gas cans and placing them into their hot cars.
While EV firefighting has not caught up with EV production, it is not like it is easy to put out a vehicle fire from a standard IC vehicle.
I can only imaging the comments when the first IC combustion engine vehicle caught fire and everyone on riding horses laughed at them…
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Yea, the guy laughing his a$$ off at the noisy horseless carriage while tying up his horses and wagon so he can go into the general store and get a couple cases of dynamite to remove some stumps in the back 40.
You are right. Things sure do change. 
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As someone who has 29 years in the automotive repair industry I can testify to a few things. EVs have already gained more popularity than other fads, LNG, propane, and hydrogen fuel cells, I’ve seen in my career. It looks to me that EVs will continue to gain traction and will become more and more popular regardless of drawbacks. People in your industry, and people in my industry, had better educate themselves, and be prepared for those inevitable consequences. Norcal74 is correct. You need to have some potential solutions ready.
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There are solutions, just very expensive and not enough significant events for administrations will to provide the funds required for specialized equipment as well as real hands on training using the equipment and getting vehicles to train on. Just the standard vehicle accidents create significant issues on moving the vehicle from the roadway.
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Until nuclear energy becomes popular & widely used. EV’s are the most inefficient use of energy for ANY type of transportation. The fire service of all trades should understand BTU’s per unit of energy out. Especially when ot comes to what it takes to generate the BTU.
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While risking straying from the original post… EV is not necessarily about efficiency as it is about availability. The direct drive technology is EV’s is nothing short of efficient with no wasted energy. That is apparent if you have ridden in a Tesla. The railroad industry might beg to differ with you on efficiency as well.
Back to the original post about the fire suppression…
As for nuclear power agree, it is the most efficient. But I would suggest if you think there are problems putting out an EV fire… Fission and Fusion are entirely different games.
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Thank you for making my point
Railroad for the most part is DC Electric.
A IC direct coupled to a generator which is wired to DC electric motors attaches to each drive wheel on the locomotive.
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I would also suggest that EV are actually more efficient than IC engines when it comes to total output. DOE studies have outlined that fact. Your reference to BTU’s is at a more basic level… such as a stove top. EV’s waste no BTU’s idling, warming up and exhausting combustion bi-product.
The issue with EV right now is patience on our( the consumer) part with change and the automotive industry turning out products that meet or exceed what we are all used to operating. Throw in some politics and the facts are lost in the argument.
There are obvious issues with fires in EV, a large fire in SD county two months ago, one in SB county and numerous small incidents in EV vehicles. There have been a spate of fires in solar and solar battery back up systems. As with everything new in the world we play catch up in the fire service. That has been evident in my 35 year career both as a FF and a paramedic. We are always behind. Once we catch up and master it… the game changes.
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The energy used to create the fuel for a IC is exponentially less than the energy used to create and store fuel for the EV.
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