On February 11, an electric car caught fire at level -3 of a rue Ravenstein car park, causing numerous access problems for firefighters. In mid-April, around twenty electric scooters caught fire… Each time, the same method used by the firefighters. “The battery should be immersed in water for two or three days in water”, explains Walter Derieuw, spokesperson for Siamu.
To this end, the Brussels fire brigade acquired a large container to store a large quantity of water. In addition to this basin, the firefighters will acquire a “telescopic lift” to “bring to the surface the carcasses of electric vehicles which would have burned in an underground car park”. Similarly, a partnership has been sealed with the Audi factory in Forest, which also provides another container. “For scooters, for example, we improvise: we have other containers, and we use a tarpaulin to waterproof.”
And it must be said that the demand for equipment is increasingly felt. According to data from Pascal Smet (Vooruit) questioned in the Regional Parliament by MP Jonathan de Patoul (Défi), Siamu intervened 19 times in 2021 for electric vehicle fires (cars, but also scooters, scooters)… once morest only four interventions in 2020. For these first months of 2022, Siamu already has eight interventions of this type. “Given the expected development of the vehicle fleet in the Brussels Region, this increase should intensify in the years to come”warns the Secretary of State in charge of Firefighting.
In the parliamentary response, a series of “failures” are identified in the management of this type of disaster, particularly in terms of the management and recycling of batteries. A situation deemed “worrying” by the deputy Challenge: “The problem seems known to regional and federal authorities, but the vagueness remains as to the management.”
Park “as close as possible to the entrance”
The interventions of the firefighters underground, despite the future trolley, are particularly difficult because of the release of smoke… and especially when the car is parked in a place that is difficult to access. According to Pascal Smet, “Siamu actually recommends parking electric vehicles as close as possible to the entrance” car parks. An opinion which also makes the amaranth deputy react. “Currently, this is still possible. But within a few years with the Low Emissions Zone schedule, all vehicles will be electric.”
According to the minister, “the level of fire safety” many underground car parks is moreover judged as “rather weak”. Equipping car parks being extremely expensive, the challenge, according to the fire department spokesperson, is therefore to regulate new constructions, “with partitions, heat and smoke extractors, detectors”.
The Brussels firefighter also reminds that it is imperative to use “the manufacturer’s cables”, because the use of an unapproved device can have serious consequences.
Another problem: water. “At this stage, there are no guidelines and procedures establishing whether the extinguishing and immersion waters of these batteries should be considered as polluting and how these waters are collected, transported and treated.“, concedes the socialist representative in his written response. During the last interventions, the firefighters therefore called on private firms.
In his response to the Amarante deputy, Pascal Smet indicates that a regional decree is being prepared on this issue of fires. A working group has also been launched at federal level, with conclusions “expected by the end of the year”.
