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submitted 4 months ago by Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

California firefighters had to douse a flaming battery in a Tesla Semi with about 50,000 gallons (190,000 liters) of water to extinguish flames after a crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

In addition to the huge amount of water, firefighters used an aircraft to drop fire retardant on the “immediate area” of the electric truck as a precautionary measure, the agency said in a preliminary report.

Firefighters said previously that the battery reached temperatures of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 Celsius) while it was in flames.

The NTSB sent investigators to the Aug. 19 crash along Interstate 80 near Emigrant Gap, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento. The agency said it would look into fire risks posed by the truck’s large lithium-ion battery.

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[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 42 points 4 months ago

Maybe don't use water to put out a fire that can't be put out with water. Aren't these supposed to be professionals?

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 48 points 4 months ago

The purpose of the water is to cool the wreck and the area around it while the metal fire burns itself out, because waiting it out is the safest option for the firefighters.

[-] shaun@lemmy.world 28 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Flooding the batteries with water is the best way to put out a lithium-ion battery fire.

[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 months ago

Isn't oxygen deprivation (usually through burying) a much faster method?

[-] cm0002@lemmy.world 23 points 4 months ago

Maybe for smaller things, a regular car maybe.

But by the time a suitable digging machine arrives on scene and digs a big enough hole for a semi it'd probably be faster to flood it with water. Not to mention what might be underneath the ground, so they'd also have to spend time determining if there's any gas lines or whatever before they dig so they don't make a much bigger problem

[-] frezik@midwest.social 18 points 4 months ago

Lithium fires are self-oxidizing, so that won't work. Burying it helps keep it from spreading, though.

[-] rtxn@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago

Do you volunteer your backyard for such burials?

[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 months ago
[-] rtxn@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

Sure you would, now. It's easy to be virtuous when the only things at stake are fake internet points.

I'd love to see you show the same heroism when an excavator in fire department livery comes to your house, rips up your front lawn, damages your water line and underground cables, potentially damages your basement's walls, and carries off two cubic metres of soil to put out somebody else's vehicle fire somewhat faster than water would. I'm sure you'd feel great about the damage you'd have to get fixed, even if you ignore the cost. Or do you think that fire departments would just buy dumptrucks to haul soil to fires on the off chance that the reporter correctly identifies the involved vehicle as having a lithium battery?

It's not ideal, but water with fire retardant is the most practical solution.

[-] frezik@midwest.social 5 points 4 months ago

It isn't.

https://youtu.be/qgP7KkDesBo?si=XNb_yZYwA943t0lP

Water seems to put it out for a bit, but the reaction is self-oxidizing and starts right back up again. That's why it takes so much water; fire fighters keep dowsing it and then doing it again. Takes all day, and the whole thing burns away in the end.

The way to do it is, if possible, tow it somewhere away from other things, keep the fire from spreading, and otherwise let it burn. For cars, there are fireproof blankets coming on the market to contain it. Semi-trucks are probably too big for that, though.

[-] GeneralEmergency@lemmy.world 27 points 4 months ago

For as much as people want their Musky circlejerks. This is really just a problem with the switch the EVs that people aren't willing to accept.

There is no way to really stop an EV battery fire.

The batteries in these cars are made up of several cells, packed into a watertight, fire resistant box. When just one of those cells goes it's over. It can create a chemical reaction that can ignite the cells without the need for oxygen, pure heat will set them off.

The only real way of dealing with them is to let them burn themselves out, and even after that they aren't safe and could reignite.

[-] DudeImMacGyver@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 months ago

The way to stop them is solid state batteries

[-] wolfpack86@lemmy.world 15 points 4 months ago

Or maybe just good guys with Li-ion batteries.

[-] DudeImMacGyver@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 months ago

What we really need is POCKET SAND!

[-] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 months ago

And absolutely HUGE pockets!

[-] Fosheze@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

It's not the electrolyte that's the issue, it's the lithium. Solid electrolyte batteries wont make any difference. Unless by solid state you mean, no chemical reaction and we just switch to electrostatic cells, but that is nowhere near viable.

[-] DudeImMacGyver@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

I had been told that solid state batteries are far more stable and less likely to have thermal runaway. Is that just bullshit?

[-] Fosheze@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

It's less likely, but if they do get lit on fire then you still have a class D fire on your hands. Unfortunately with car accidents and that much energy being stored in one place, fires are going to happen.

[-] DudeImMacGyver@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago

Supposedly there are non lithium solid state batteries, but I'm not aware of any commonly available for EVs

[-] wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

You'll take my spinning platter batteries from my cold, dead hands

[-] glitchdx@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

that sounds great, where can I buy one?

[-] DudeImMacGyver@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago
[-] glitchdx@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

honestly, i don't expect an answer. New battery tech gets announced every year, claiming to revilutionize energy storage. None have made it to market in any meaningful way, if at all. Lithium batteries hit the sweet spot of price to performance, and nothing else can compete. Looking forward to the day that changes.

[-] DudeImMacGyver@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

So, you actually can buy solid state batteries now at least as external battery packs to charge phones and whatnot, but they're still lithium based,

[-] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 months ago

Massive changes have been happening in the battery field for decades, they just aren't fast. Our rechargeable batteries are smaller, more energy-dense, longer-lasting, and cheaper than they were 40 years ago. They aren't magical, last forever, infinite power, instant recharge batteries, though, that's correct.

[-] simplejack@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago

How many lithium ion battery fires have you put out?

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Two.

The best policy is to not puncture batteries, and train others to not do so.

The next best is to know to smother them.

[-] Paddzr@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Anyone dealing with batteries would have. It is more common than you think and not just people being keyboard warriors.

this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2024
351 points (100.0% liked)

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