PHOTOS: A fire blazed from an electric vehicle on Monday after it crashed on Walton Bluff Parkway in Chesterfield County. According to Chesterfield County Fire and EMS, crews responded to a call for a fire involving an electric vehicle on Walton Bluff Parkway on Monday, June 16. The SUV reportedly ran off the road, clipped a cement culvert and overturned, causing the batteries in the vehicle to catch on fire. Officials said there were no injuries.
Crews used a drone with a thermal imaging camera to monitor the temperature of the battery cells. Even after the fire was extinguished, a Chesterfield County Fire and EMS spokesperson said the cells remain hot. Electric vehicle batteries are reportedly encased in protective shells, which officials said complicate efforts to extinguish and cool the batteries. The spokesperson said Chesterfield County Fire and EMS crews remained on the scene for nearly four hours, compared to a scene involving a gas-powered car, which usually takes less than an hour to clear.
The spokesperson said that since 2021, Chesterfield County Fire and EMS firefighters have been trained extensively to handle electric vehicle fires and are equipped for future instances. They also said that by the end of the year, all firefighters throughout Virginia will be required to undergo training on electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery fires.
