PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Portland Fire and Rescue is unveiling its new “water lance” tool in an effort to minimize the toxicity released in the water and the air from lithium-ion battery fires from electric vehicles.
The new Cold Cut Cobra Water Lance is so powerful, it can be used to penetrate metal and can minimize the amount of water needed to combat EV fires, officials said.
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The proliferation of sometimes explosive EV battery fires is a fairly new phenomenon, with fire departments across the nation struggling to respond to them. As a result, a variety of approaches have been taken among the different fire departments around the country, PF&R officials said.
The issue stems from the fact that lithium-ion battery fires can dispense toxins in the water runoff or in the air via aerosolized particulates, leading to respiratory health dangers for those nearby. Traditional firefighting methods would either require using a lot of water to put the battery fire out, creating toxic runoff, or waiting until the fire consumes the battery and use less water, but allowing a plume of toxic smoke to occur instead. Both methods risk environmental and health dangers…