The Boothbay Region Lions Club, during their summer break, voted to purchase three electric vehicle (EV) fire blankets and split the cost of each with the Boothbay Harbor, Boothbay and Southport fire departments. Cost of the EV blankets was $1,550 each and the Lions Club has agreed to play 50% of the cost. The idea was presented by a member of the club at one of our regular meetings and all agreed to proceed.

The increasing presence of EV’s on our roads presents new challenges for fire services, particularly in cases involving battery fires, thermal runaway or post-crash thermal management. Traditional firefighting methods are often insufficient, or inefficient when it comes to suppressing or containing high-energy lithium-ion battery fires.

The EV blanket provide proactive, effective solutions:

--Controls and suppresses flames in EV fire scenarios by smothering oxygen.

--Minimizes the spread of fire to nearby vehicles, structures or the environment.

--Limits toxic smoke release, protecting first responders and bystanders.

--Contains thermal events during battery runaway or re-ignition risk.

--Provides temporary containment for emergency services to safely assess the fire’s status and decide on the next course of action.

--The EV blanket is effective at containment, especially for lithium batteries, a blanket alone might not be sufficient for fully extinguishing deeply involved battery fires. Additional cooling methods may be necessary

The blanket is a simple, yet powerful addition to a fire department’s emergency response toolkit, especially with EV incidents expected to rise.