11 tons of water to put out tesla fire!

wweiss

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11 tons (actually 12.1 tons - water weighs 2.2LB/liter * 11,000 liters / 2000) to put out 7,000 burning 18650's. So, 3.5 liters to put out one 18650. Interesting.
 

lightfooted

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Probably because they didn't know any better. It also kinda feels like it's a bit biased, inflammatory even. Don't sit too close to the tv or you'll damage your eyes!
 

Str8stroke

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Since lithium is a class B Fire is there a reason they used water?
Somehow I remember reading that water was all they had available. Now, that could have been in the comment section of the story. If I remember a fire chief was noting that a large percentage of small/volunteer Fire Departments are not equipped to handle chemical fires of that kind. I don't know the validity of that statement but it does kinda make sense to me.
 

lightfooted

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While it may indeed be the reality, what would they have done had it been a gasoline fire? A gas tanker fire would not have been any easier for them to deal with...just not likely for them to have to deal with that alone.
 

idleprocess

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Cars catch fire every day and it doesn't even make the local news; one suspects that the incident rate for EV's catching fire is no greater than gasoline or diesel vehicles. And we've been down this fallacy of vivid remembrance trail before when hybrids first came out decades ago supposedly presenting special hazards to firefighters - only they didn't and automaker have standardized color-coding on high-voltage lines/components, have conducted well-documented joint training on new models with departments to spread the knowledge on how to handle these vehicles, and have distributed training materials to fire-rescue departments.

Insofar as the titular 11 tons of water - that looks like the mass necessary to fully immerse the wreckage in what looks like a skip bin so as to prevent internal flare-ups from spreading.
 

Kestrel

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[...] It also kinda feels like it's a bit biased, inflammatory even. Don't sit too close to the tv or you'll damage your eyes!
Perhaps because that "news" site is a political farce; I'm thinking you had noticed silly parts such as this:

ZeroFacts.Com said:
The Tesla battery is mounted on the underside of the vehicle and contains acids and chemicals that can easily escape during a fire, placing the firefighters in danger.
(emphasis added)
:rolleyes:

I have read ZH articles wherein they reference other news sources; which when checked, reference back to ZH for their 'facts' - a definite no-no for any legitimate journalism.

-----

CPF also discourages posters from simply posting an external weblink without adding commentary or discussion; called "drive-bys", they can be an effective method for sparking discussion conflicts.

Relevant news from other sources are of natural interest, but the viewpoint of the original poster in bringing it to the group discussion is appreciated.

And thanks to idleprocess above for adding useful perspective to the topic at hand.

Best regards,
 
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Kestrel

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Cars catch fire every day and it doesn't even make the local news; one suspects that the incident rate for EV's catching fire is no greater than gasoline or diesel vehicles. And we've been down this fallacy of vivid remembrance trail before when hybrids first came out decades ago supposedly presenting special hazards to firefighters - only they didn't and automaker have standardized color-coding on high-voltage lines/components, have conducted well-documented joint training on new models with departments to spread the knowledge on how to handle these vehicles, and have distributed training materials to fire-rescue departments. [...]
From this ABC News link (which contains an imbedded video & audio advert, so maybe just trust me? ;))
[...] And this battery fire was rare for Santa Clara County Fire.
"This year I believe it's the only one we've responded to," said Capt. Bill Murphy. "We've responded to approximately 67 vehicle fires in 2018 so far."
 
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usdiver

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It is a metal fire, class D. B is flammable liquids

Thanks, I appreciate your correction however just so not to mislead anyone, lithium ion rechargeables are in reality more of a b or a with b complications. Class d or delta is in fact combustible metals which is what lithium primaries areas the 2 can be easily confused.
 

xxo

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I don't know anything about the politics of the source, this is the first time I saw the site and the only article of theirs I have read. I couldn't find a link to other sources in English, but here's the Austrian link:

https://tirol.orf.at/stories/3015765/

As best I can tell much of the text in the article I linked to was translated and lifted from the above link (along with the part about chemicals and acids as best as I can tell?).

BTW here a similar fire in Austria from back in 2017 with a video:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...hters-tackle-enormous-Tesla-Model-S-fire.html
 

Monocrom

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Someone keeps parking their Tesla next to my car, at work. Quite frankly, it's ticking me off. You want to ride around in a death-trap, that's your business. I don't appreciate having my property and possessions put in danger because some guy wants to feel cool or trendy, or pretend he's helping the environment by driving around in such a car. Meanwhile the technology is no where near perfected.

Apparently now City fire departments need more money allocated for special extinguishers for putting out Tesla fires. Isn't that lovely?
 

idleprocess

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Someone keeps parking their Tesla next to my car, at work. Quite frankly, it's ticking me off. You want to ride around in a death-trap, that's your business. I don't appreciate having my property and possessions put in danger because some guy wants to feel cool or trendy, or pretend he's helping the environment by driving around in such a car. Meanwhile the technology is no where near perfected.
After several years and probably to a million or more EV's on the road, we know they're no more hazardous than liquid-fueled cars, which burn up all the time without fanfare because it's a perfectly ordinary fire incident.

Apparently now City fire departments need more money allocated for special extinguishers for putting out Tesla fires. Isn't that lovely?
They also need special extinguishers for dealing with industrial fires where there's apt to be more burning than just class A, B, C compounds.
 

P_A_S_1

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Was looking at model 3 reviews the other day. Pricey, techy, and not very practical all things considered. Yet still cool. It's like the HDS of cars.
 

wweiss

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Any new, world changing technologies- like battery storage efficiency and electric vehicles - are subject to suspicious derision and fear before it is eventually adopted by everyone.
 

usdiver

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Class Charlie is an electrical fire. Bravo is liquid fuels.

Correct but lithium ion rechargeables are not class c. A house electrical fire would be class c. Just like a lithium primary isn't a class c either even though it's electrical.... it's class d.

In this case though it's likely water is the best they had on hand but the agent needed to fight one of these is quite expensive and definitely something new since my days out at sea.
 
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