By Aidan McCahill
The Advocate
BATON ROUGE, La. — Following the Jan. 1 Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas, Baton Rouge resident and Cybertruck owner Daniel Miremont asked local firefighter Danny Smith how his department planned to manage similar electric vehicle fires.
Smith said firefighters use special blankets to smother such vehicle fires, though there were only two of them to use between East Baton Rouge parish’s multiple fire departments.
“I said, I’m going to buy one for every station,” Miremont said Monday.
National data shows electric vehicles tend to catch fire less often than their gas-guzzling cousins. When they do, there’s unique risks for firefighters.
Due to their lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles usually burn longer at higher temperatures and can reignite after being extinguished. Electric vehicle fires can also release toxic fumes like heavy metals, carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide.
“It’s not like a normal vehicle fire where you can put water on it and it goes out immediately,” said Michael Kimble, Baton Rouge Fire Department chief. “This is a whole different game that we’re playing with electric vehicles.”
The 75-pound silica blankets can endure up to 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit, according to FireIsolator, the blanket’s manufacturer. The blankets cut off oxygen fueling the fire, which prevents collateral damage and stifles the spread of toxic fumes, according to FireIsolator’s website.
The 10 blankets he donated cost Miremont more than $20,000, he said.
“I just shot off the cuff,” said Miremont, former president of Compliance EnviroSystems who is a co-owner of Kenner-based general contractor BLD Services. “If it helps the community, all of us win.”
Each of the following area fire departments will receive at least one silica blanket:
- Baton Rouge Fire Department
- Pride Volunteer Fire Department
- Baker Fire Department
- Central Fire Department
- Chaneyville Volunteer Fire Department
- District 6 Fire Department
- Brownfield Volunteer Fire Department
- Zachary Fire and Rescue
- East Side Fire Department
The progressive prevention strategy contrasts with consumer habits in Louisiana, which ranks 49th in the nation for electric vehicle market share.
Still, while an electric vehicle fire hasn’t yet occurred in East Baton Rouge parish, Kimble said the rapid rise in popularity of these vehicles makes those occurrences all but inevitable.
Between 2017 and 2022, electric vehicle registrations in the state increased by 486%, according to Baton Rouge area nonprofit Louisiana Clean Fuels, a local nonprofit.
“We’ve seen the potential around the country, so we’re just preparing for when it happens,” Kimble said. “There is always more training that should always be done, but I do say we are more prepared now.”
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