West Jordan firefighters now using ‘fire blankets’ to combat electric vehicle fires

WEST JORDAN, Utah ( ABC4 ) — The West Jordan Fire Department is now implementing a new piece of equipment — 80-pound fire blankets — to tackle potential fires from EVs, or electric vehicles.

Studies show that electric vehicles catch fire less frequently than gas-powered cars, but when they do, it can take significantly more time and water than a typical car fire to extinguish. That’s where the new fire blankets come in.

On Thursday morning, firefighters were training with the fire blankets, which are specifically engineered to tackle lithium-ion battery fires in EVs, completely covering a vehicle with it the way they would in the case of fire.

According to Owen Nuttall, a firefighter paramedic with the West Jordan Fire Department, the blankets are made with a fibrous glass material and kevlar.

Nuttall said it’s important to get ahead of the curve and learn how to mitigate EV vehicle fires now, as EVs are becoming increasingly popular.

“These battery fires can burn independently without an oxygen source, so dumping water on it sometimes is ineffective. We can use thousands of gallons of water and really not be able to mitigate the fire,” he said. “This blanket is going to help us cool the environment. We’ll be able to deploy it over a vehicle and take it from about 1,800 degrees down to 300 or 400 degrees. We can then protect exposures and property that are around the vehicle and figure out ways to really mitigate the fire itself.”

Nuttall explained the blankets can also help prevent heavy metal runoffs and toxic fumes, stopping them from going into the environment.

“We especially want to protect the waterways. The water treatment plants have a really difficult time treating that heavy metal runoff once it’s into the system,” he said.

Nuttall said the fire blankets can also be used on hybrid vehicles, and that to his knowledge, the West Jordan Fire Department is the first fire agency in Utah to acquire them.

“We can get this and we can start helping the valley out with figuring out a good response to these vehicle fires,” he said.

Nuttall said if you are driving an EV and suspect a fire could be starting, call 911 and exit your vehicle as quickly as you can. He said in the case of a fire, electrical systems can fail, so know where your manual release is ahead of time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.