QUINCY, Mass./COLUMBIA, Md. — Two fire service research organizations issued a notice today about a potential explosion hazard when fire blankets are used during electric vehicle fire suppression efforts with battery involvement.
The Fire Protection Research Foundation, the research affiliate of NFPA, and the Fire Safety Research Institute, part of UL Research Institutes, shared that recent experiments determined that the deployment of a fire blanket eliminated flaming by denying oxygen to the vehicle and the battery fire; however, battery thermal runaway propagation continued after blanket deployment, which resulted in the continued release and accumulation of flammable battery gases into the volume under the blanket. In some of the experiments, this accumulation of flammable gases under the blankets presented an explosion risk to firefighters operating near the vehicle.
The organizations noted that these initial experiments reinforce the need for continued research on EV firefighting tactics — and some related research is already underway.
FPRF is conducting research to improve the safety of firefighters responding to EV fires and incidents by assessing current firefighting tactics and tools used by the fire service to manage EV incidents and the impact of suppression activities on managing re-ignition risks. Recent experiments for the Assessment of EV Firefighting Tactics, Tools and the Impact on Stranded Energy research project were conducted to assess the ability of four firefighting tactics to suppress and establish control of fire incidents involving standalone EV battery packs and full EVs with confirmed battery pack fire involvement:
- Standard hose stream application – water only;
- Standard hose stream application – with injected agent;
- EV fire blankets; and
- Firefighting appliances.
Analysis of the data from FPRF experiments is underway. Preliminary results will be presented at the annual NFPA Conference and Expo on June 16, 2025, in Las Vegas, and the full analysis will be provided in FPRF’s forthcoming research report, which will be publicly available this fall at nfpa.org/foundation.
Additionally, FSRI is conducting research to improve understanding of hazards generated by EV battery fires and to enable the development of firefighting tactics for effective EV fire control. Recent experiments for the Fire Safety of Batteries and Electric Vehicles research project were conducted to evaluate the capability of standard hose stream application, water application with an under-vehicle nozzle, and an electric vehicle fire blanket, to suppress and establish control of a burning electric vehicle with confirmed battery pack fire involvement. Analysis of the video and data from FSRI experiments is underway and will be addressed in detail in FSRI’s forthcoming electric vehicle research report, which will be available at fsri.org.
