Electric car on fire at dealership was ‘nearly impossible’ to put out, IN officials say
Indiana firefighters said they were faced with a “new set of issues” when an electric car caught fire inside a car dealership.
The vehicle was up on a lift in the maintenance area when it ignited, filling the garage with “heavy smoke,” the Carmel Fire Department said in a Sept. 16 Facebook post.
Officials said fires like this involving lithium ion, found in electric car batteries, can be “nearly impossible to fully extinguish if there is thermal runaway,” or uncontrollable temperature rise.
The Audi dealership “did have a sprinkler system, which probably helped the spread, but it wasn’t putting that out,” Carmel Fire Department spokesperson Tim Griffin told WISH.
“It took the firefighters and us getting hoses in there and on that car to cool it off enough to actually be able to move it,” Griffin told the outlet.
The car reignited “a couple times while moving it out of the building,” Griffin told WISH.
Fire crews loaded the car onto a flatbed, following behind until it reached the salvage yard, authorities said.
“If one of these vehicles catches fire on the roadway or in a parking lot, it is hard enough to extinguish, however, one in a garage or other structure presents a whole new set of issues,” fire officials said.
The fire department is investigating the cause of the fire, WXIN reported.
The fire happened when the car was not being charged, a spokesperson told the outlet.
Carmel is about a 25-mile drive north from Indianapolis.
This story was originally published September 18, 2024 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Electric car on fire at dealership was ‘nearly impossible’ to put out, IN officials say."
