In the emergency service sector, we tend to think, operate and react in micro-bursts. We get the call, respond right away, fix the problem and leave with a have-a-nice-day wave. This is where most firefighters are comfortable. The problem: Comfort leads to complacency. And short-term thinking can only get us so far – a point drilled home at a recent event.
Your role in the bigger picture
I participated in a panel discussion at the International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association conference. This three-day event operated much like the mid-size conferences we all attend, with one significant distinction, at least for me. I was the only fire service representative in attendance –outside my comfort zone in a room full of engineers, tech-whizzes and toll road COOs.
We all know that it’s critical to engage with our partner agencies, but I don’t think we spend enough time actually doing that kind of preplanning. This event not only allowed me to interact with a host of partner agencies but also to reflect on the fire service’s role in that bigger picture. For example, while we come in and take care of life safety and damage control, these teams swoop in after we clear the scene so they can get the roads, tunnels and bridges back in business. We’re thinking in micro-bursts; they are thinking longer term – macro-bursts, if you will. Think about it, we’re typically in and out in an hour or two, but these other teams could be involved for days, months, even years to resolve the issue. Additionally, it was enlightening to hear about everything from wrong-way-driving programs to work-zone strategies for safety – a great opportunity to share unique experiences, just from our different roadway perspectives.
The more we can do to facilitate these partner agency relationships, the more we will contribute to the bigger picture for the community. What does this look like in practice? Make sure you can put faces to names of partner agency leaders, as this not only helps with on-scene management but also facilitates clean-up and return to normalcy, which should be important to all of us.
EV fires + roadways, tunnels and bridges
I was at the event to present the fire service operations picture specific to electric vehicle (EV) fires. I addressed the fire service dynamics of it all, from the state of our EV firefighting capabilities to the research being done by UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), NIST and the NFPA, to the legislative efforts undertaken by the IAFC, CFSI and many others.
It was enlightening for the highways folks to hear that the fire service has yet to find a quick way to extinguish EV battery fires. Sure, there’s lots of ideas and new products out there, from piercing nozzles and blankets to self-extinguishing systems, but there’s no one approach that is guaranteed to solve the issue other than time.
A piercing nozzle system is approximately $50,000. While this is might be an option for a handful of departments that can afford it, finding funding to outfit every fire truck in the United States would be a multi-billion-dollar project. Furthermore, the system is not universally accepted with respect to vehicle clearances, testing and certification, or firefighter training. The fire blankets that are out there can be used to cover a burning vehicle so it can be moved, but that will not fully extinguish an EV battery fire.
The specific issue of tunnels and bridges is unique – and let’s include parking garages, too – in that a burning vehicle in one of these locations has the real potential to result in catastrophic circumstances. Think hydrogen fluoride gas being released and potentially trapped in a tunnel environment, plus the potential impact of fire on structural members. Cleary, the “let it burn” mantra CANNOT be our long-term solution, at least not where structural stability is involved.
Interim tactics and teamwork
I spoke to highways teams from coast to coast, and none of them offered ideas that we haven’t already considered. So, in the absence of a smoking gun solution, the strategic suggestion I made to the group focuses on three basic steps:
- The fire service will knock down the fire to the best of their ability, while highways or the responsible party (RP)/agency assembles a tow/push vehicle.
- The highway’s agency or RP pushes or pulls the vehicle to a less vulnerable space (out of the tunnel, garage and off the road).
- The fire department continues extinguishment or stands by, protecting exposures, until it burns out.
It’s up to you, as local fire service leaders, to solidify these plans with your local highway agency and/or parking garage owners in advance of EV incidents. For example, while some port authorities have push-vehicles designed for this function, you may be in a more rural or private area and looking at a bulldozer, a snowplow, a snatch-tow vehicle or some other obscure piece of equipment to move a vehicle. Identify that vehicle now.
Remember, none of this is going to happen with the snap of your incident commander fingers, nor will it be an easy process, but working out the protocol in advance will help make it as smooth as possible.
Get out of your comfort zone
UL’s FSRI, along with NIST and the NFPA, are working diligently to identify better options for handling EV fires. And it will be incumbent on our partners at the IAFC, IAFF, NVFC and CFSI to continue carrying the proverbial torch in legislative efforts to affect positive change.
In the meantime, we must go beyond our fire service silo to engage other partner agencies. Attend conferences, knock on doors, send emails – whatever it takes to get together with the responsible party in your area. Make sure you’re connected to those agencies from a command-and-control perspective, and include your Emergency Management folks in these discussions as well; they may have the tools you need to facilitate these connections.
Sure, all of these connections, collaborations and moving pieces may make you uncomfortable, but that’s how we develop, learn and grow – and just maybe that’s how we find a solution to the EV fire conundrum. That’s right, “we” don’t know it all after all! Does that make you uncomfortable? I hope so!
