VIDEO: Spartanburg County recently purchased equipment to help better aid emergency responders fight electric vehicle fires.
According to county documents, the EV Fire Blankets and SUDZ-IT EV Nozzles were bought for $24,387.40 in June.
The blankets are designed to work in tandem with the nozzles, allowing firefighters to simultaneously smother flames while spraying the lithium-ion batteries with water. “Luckily, we are one of the first counties in the state, and we are one of the most aggressive when it comes to planning and training for electric vehicle fires,” said Scottie Kay Blackwell, Spartanburg County’s Communications Manager. “We want to make sure we’re prepared should that ever happened.”
The blankets and nozzles can be used in other cases of fires involving lithium-ion batteries such as battery plants.