Big Daddy Battery Fire

[Jim]

Yeah, you hear about planes falling out of the sky onto peoples houses, every day.

 

[Jim]

Absolutely. But the point is that we have a century of experience and knowledge as to how to deal with that sort of fire. As other posters have mentioned, a runaway chemical reaction takes entirely different tactics. I'm not against battery power per se, but I do think that updating the training for anyone who has to deal with them needs a massive acceleration.

Totally agree. Different technology requires different techniques. Safety crews need to be trained in the correct techniques for different types of fires.

 

[TD5023]

Yeah, you hear about planes falling out of the sky onto peoples houses, every day.

Maybe not today, but you sure did when planes were a newer thing (maybe not daily, but certainly at a disproportionately high rate). I doubt anyone from the 1940's could fathom that commercial air travel would become the safest form of transportation, but here we are.

 

[Von Halen]

Maybe not today, but you sure did when planes were a newer thing (maybe not daily, but certainly at a disproportionately high rate). I doubt anyone from the 1940's could fathom that commercial air travel would become the safest form of transportation, but here we are.

Please provide me some data on planes falling out of the sky onto houses. From whatever era you want. Yes, it has happened, but rarely.

Fire is but one danger of these battery powered vehicles. Chemicals and electricity are also major dangers, in the event of a crash. Many car crashes happen every day in every city in America and beyond. I would venture to guess most car crashes today, don't involve fire or chemical spills or high voltage.

I am glad some of you guys are buying into this "green" electric only initiative, that is anything but "green". I however am not.

 

[TD5023]

Please provide me some data on planes falling out of the sky onto houses. From whatever era you want. Yes, it has happened, but rarely.

Fire is but one danger of these battery powered vehicles. Chemicals and electricity are also major dangers, in the event of a crash. Many car crashes happen every day in every city in America and beyond. I would venture to guess most car crashes today, don't involve fire or chemical spills or high voltage.

I am glad some of you guys are buying into this "green" electric only initiative, that is anything but "green". I however am not.

"Falling onto houses" is very specific and in general not likely since most flight paths are predominantly over unoccupied land/water, so I'm not taking that into account. If you want to see the gradual increase in safety, you can take a look here (particularly the accident statistics section): http://www.baaa-acro.com/statistics

To summarize, early on the raw numbers for accidents/incidents were quite low simply because there weren't all that many planes in the sky and commercial use was very limited. When their use expanded largely after WWII, the numbers skyrocketed, even without having all that many planes in operation. As we learned from these accidents, subsequent designs were improved despite starting with a very raw model. For an excellent specific example, take a look into the history of the de Havilland Comet.

It's been made abundantly clear that current EV practices aren't exactly green, and only those with their heads completely buried in the sand would argue otherwise. The point is that right now, alternative forms are still in their infancy and we need to learn their ins and outs and develop infrastructure for them to actually be beneficial. I'm not even saying that batteries are truly the way of the future, but if everything gets dismissed because the first iteration isn't better than what we already have, then we'll never have technological progress.

 

[Dragracer]

The best fire extinguisher for a lithium-ion battery fire is an ABC or BC extinguisher.
However, a lithium battery fire needs a Class-D dry powder extinguisher, certified for use in lithium fires.
These types of batteries have very different hazards that require different extinguishers.
If neither extinguisher is available water may also be used on a lithium-ion fire but water on a lithium battery fire will result in a bigger fire and possible explosion.
Obviously drag strip operators and safety crews need training in this area.

 

[Bobby Bennett]

BATTERY FIRE A SETBACK FOR 'BIG DADDY' | Competition Plus

Plans for Palm Beach International Raceway to go out in a blaze of glory didn’t include Don Garlits’ electric dragster going up in flames. Yet that’s what happened Saturday at the 58-year-old facility’s scheduled final event. A malfunction of some battery cells caused a fire that Garlits said...

competitionplus.com

 

[mick]

interesting thread.

 

[You!]

I have been to numerous collision industry events already this year and the topic of these types of fires in EV's is scaring the crap out of many traditional body shop owners. If the vehicle comes in after a crash, and even if it is scanned while still outside the building, can have internal damage in the cells that can cause the shop to potentially burn to the ground, a few DAYS later, hopefully in the middle of the night.

Much like the solar industry, there is still a lot that must be corrected/addressed before these EVs prove their worth. With a big component being safety AND the ability to recycle the majority of the pieces once they're no longer usable.

 

[nick name]

Depending on the year and model, Teslas have between 4,680 and 7,104 of the cells shown in this video. Check out this 9 cell runaway. They use an external heat source, but that same heat can be generated by drawing more amperage (= more power in a performance setting) than the cell can handle. Yes, nitro fires are violent, but I can't imagine putting our present safety crews in this sort of situation without seriously upgraded protection gear and tactics.