LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Drivers who were stuck on the I-15 for hours when a truck carrying lithium batteries caught on fire, might be wondering if it was necessary to put traffic to a complete stop for two days while clean up continued.
“Lithium battery fires are a little complicated” Deputy Chief Thomas Touchstone with Clark County Fire Department said.
These batteries are now showing up in our every day life, from the latest technology to electric vehicles.
Touchstone tells FOX5 when a lithium battery does catch on fire, it’s not only complicated but dangerous as well.
“We have plenty of protective gear to protect us and we use a long hose stream to get a good reach to make sure we don’t get too close ,” Touchstone said.
Which would not have been the case if drivers were allowed to continue driving past the truck on fire.
“Them stopping and rolling down their window and inhaling the toxic fume coming out of the battery, that is problematic. Then they also have a concern for the batteries exploding. There was a 30-yard blast radius,” Touchstone said.
Touchstone tells FOX5 Clark County Fire Department was on standby to help out as a lot recourses were needed as the batteries inside the 70,000 pound truck burned.
“It can be put out with water, but it takes a lot of water,” Touchstone said.
The department also showed us how they utilized a special EV blanket that is meant to smother a battery fire on a electrical vehicle.
Clark County fire officials suggest homeowners shouldn’t overcharge batteries in devices since that could lead to them catching on fire.
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