Car fires present a unique firefighting challenge at Oliver event

As part of the Spring Training Seminar hosted by the Oliver Fire Department, firefighter attendees had the opportunity to hone their skills on challenging car fire scenarios, something that has particular importance as summer holiday season is coming.

Colin Pickell from the Okanagan Falls Volunteer Fire Department notes the many dangers involved in dealing with a car fire.

"Car fires are very particular for their toxicity and the fact they could go south very fast, either by the car on fire rolling away from you... and there's also things in there like struts and airbags that can blow."

Just earlier in the morning they had a situation where an air bag blew, shooting straight up in the air, he says.

Pickell notes that firefighters will always approach a burning vehicle on a 45 degree angle because the struts can blow and typically fly either straight forward, back or to the sides.

In any car fire there will be one attack line and one safety line.

"We have one attack team that will attack the car fire, and then we have a safety line that's providing protection," he says.

Pickell highlights that if it was a car fire in the Okanagan in the middle of July, the car fire could quickly become a grass fire and even worse.

He notes this training station is very useful because a number of firefighters have no experience in fighting car fires.

"So we go over really good safety precautions when we start because this is a training scenario and anything can happen."

Continuing his explanation, Pickell says the attack team checks the vehicle to make sure there's no occupants.

"We hope not, but if there were, we would take steps to extricate them quickly. Otherwise, they would then back away once the tires are blocked and attack the fire as best they can."

Car fires, he says, are notorious for being difficult to put out because of the fuel, oil, and plastics used in the interior. "All kinds of things will just keep the fire burning."

He also cites other issues including a fire under the hood. "If you're not getting sufficient water under there, but the hood mechanism is disabled because the car is burning you're going to have to take steps," he says, citing the use of specialized equipment.

A particular issue in B.C. are the mobile homes and trailers because of the mountainous terrain and brake failure.

He cites the example of Waterman Hill coming into Okanagan Falls. "Brakes can overheat and catch the trailer on fire and then quickly catch the tow vehicle on fire and then you've also got propane tanks, you've got all kinds of hazards.

"They burn because they're such a lightweight structure with a lot of plastic material and they can burn quite quickly and quite hot.

"Often times when we arrive on scene a lot of the car or the trailer may be consumed. We're not trying to save it, we're trying to control it, we're trying to contain it so it doesn't spread." And they are first and foremost checking there isn't any occupants still in the vehicle or trailer.

As complicated as this kind of fire may be, there is a much bigger issue looming: electric cars. Powered by Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, these batteries are very difficult to contain in a fire situation Pickell says.

Essentially creating their own oxygen as they burn, it's a chain reaction that is very difficult to contain. He notes that in the US there have been instances where it's been impossible to contain the fire and the car was ultimately craned into a shipping container of water.

The other aspect of electric cars involves cutting battery power. "When we pop the hood on the car we disable the battery so that it won't cause any problem. But if you cut the wrong line on electrical car, you can actually electrocute yourself," he says. Electric car manufacturer Tesla, for instance, does safety videos and they have a cable clearly marked "do not cut".

Overall his advice is to ensure preventative maintenance is undertaken for the brakes, whether car, truck, trailer or mobile home. "The causes of car fires are so random it's hard to prevent them, but keep on top of maintenance and everything."

Another piece of advice: if there is a fire, "just get out of the vehicle. There's nothing that you are going to be able to do to stop the fire - you're not gonna be able to put the fire out."

And finally he says, "the causes of car fires are so random so it's hard to prevent them as long as you're on top of maintenance and everything."