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New revolutionary method tested extinguishes lithium-Ion EV fires in ten minutes with minimal water use

Originally Published in CTIF https://ctif.org/news/new-revolutionary-method-extinguishes-lithium-ion-ev-fires-ten-minutes-minimal-water

A report from tests made public by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) shows that a cutting extinguisher can safely put out a battery fire in a very short time, with minimal use of water and without the risk of re-ignition. 

The report is based on the results on a number of tests carried out in a collaborative project involving several stakeholders,  including the CTIF Commission for Extrication and New Technology, and CTIF Sweden,  where Tore Eriksson, Tom van Esbroeck & Michel Gentilleau have been part of the reference group. CTIF ´s Yvonne Näsman and Per-Ola Malmquist have been project members on behalf of MSB.se. 

The tests were designed to examine whether injecting water into a Li-ion battery that had gone into a state of thermal runaway could effectively suppress and extinguish the fire without reignition.

Several different kinds of equipment was tested, including fog nails, pickaxes, traditional nozzles and various penetrating extinguishers (which use water mist to cut holes through the protective shell of the battery). 

Please note, that  for safety reasons, the use of fog nails or pickaxes (to break the battery shell before water was applied) are not recommended in the report.

https://www.ctif.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/Putting%20out%20battery%20fires%20with%20water.pdf 

https://www.ctif.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/Smoke%20exposure%20in%20case%20of%20Li-ion%20battery%20fire.pdf 

Chemical, First Responder

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