On Friday evening, a fire started on the lot at Frank Kent Cadillac in Fort Worth, Texas, damaging eight electric vehicles and completely destroying six.
The fire began with one SUV and quickly spread before crews contained it; all eight affected vehicles were electric, which made it harder to extinguish.
Because electric vehicle batteries burn significantly hotter than in an average fire, they are sealed and contained within the vehicle to prevent the fire from spreading, but this also extends the time it takes to put it out. The Fort Worth Fire Department said it took 17 hours and 33 minutes to put it out.
When the fire department first arrived, they tried to put out the fire with water before switching to fire blankets due to the nature of an electric vehicle battery fire, to suppress and starve the flames.
Another crew was brought in specifically for the blankets.
“These special vehicle blankets were placed on the cars to hold the fire at bay while other vehicles in the path of the fire were moved away,” FWFD said. “This would prevent the spread of fire to the [exposed] vehicles, which would inevitably have created a bigger issue.”
Firefighters worked two-hour shifts on a rotating basis throughout the night until 10:30 Saturday morning, when they finally put out the fire. The fire flared up in the middle of the night because the blankets didn’t fully contain the fire.
Frank Kent Cadillac shared their appreciation for the fire department on Facebook for controlling and maintaining the fire through the night.
“We owe an enormous thank you to our first responders, whose quick response and decisive action brought the fire under control before it could spread to neighboring businesses or the surrounding grassland. Their professionalism, courage, and swift action made all the difference, and we cannot thank them enough.”
No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
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