CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Chattanooga Fire Department says a fire at an apartment building on Frazier Avenue was their first major operation against an electric vehicle fire.
CFD says the make of the electric vehicle was a KIA.
They say that fire spread to other nearby cars and the heat burned and damaged vehicles around the complex.
Monday we looked into how common EV fires are.
CFD says this fire burned two other vehicles near the EV and prompted a massive response to get residents to safety.
Body camera video we obtained shows the rush to save residents from the apartment complex on the Northshore.
Although CFD confirmed the EV was a KIA, they couldn’t tell us which model…
But how common are these EV fires?
Deputy Chief Pete Van Dusen with the Cleveland Fire Department tells us…
“The numbers are real low on electric vehicle fires.”
According to Deputy Chief Van Dusen, 25 electric vehicles per 100,000 sold are involved in fires compared to 130 gas vehicles.
Though rare, he says this type of fire is complicated…
“Electric vehicle fires are very difficult to fight. The cause or the reason is, you have what’s called thermal runaway, and when the batteries become involved, there’s like a chain reaction inside the battery, and it’s very difficult to interrupt that chain reaction.”
We asked Deputy Chief Van Dusen what it takes to put out these fires. He says…
“I’ve heard horror stories of 70-80,000 gallons of water to put that vehicle out.”
Last year, KIA and Hyundai issued a warning to customers to park outside and away from homes and other structures because of a fire risk. But those vehicles were not electric…
“If we don’t have exposures, you know, that can create a bigger problem. A building, another vehicle… then we’re more inclined to probably let the fire do its thing,” Van Dusen says.
When it comes to extinguishing electric vehicles, Deputy Chief Van Dusen says it’s not as easy as you may think.
“The energy is still building up, so days after that energy can reignite, because that stored energy is still there.”
KIA and Hyundai did launch an “electric vehicle safety inspection” service in August to “ease customer anxiety about electric vehicles.”
But this program is only publicized in South Korea, where a KIA EV6 caught fire in a parking garage that same month.
We reached out to KIA to see if they are investigating the Chattanooga EV car fire. KIA spokesperson James Bell told us they are gathering information on our inquiry.
