Electric vehicle safety concerns for emergency services

By Gemma Fraser
Head of content

Emergency service workers are being put at risk when dealing with incidents involving electric vehicles (EVs) due to a lack of training and awareness of hazards, unions have warned.

Any EV involved in a collision can pose a “significant risk” to first responders due to potential dangers which arise when the lithium-ion battery is damaged, as well as the toxic chemicals generated during an electric vehicle fire.

The Fire Brigades Union and the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) are calling for a “standard approach for all first responders” when dealing with these types of incidents after identifying “potential gaps across blue light services in relation to training, awareness, preparedness and provision of PPE (personal protective equipment).”

Police Scotland said training is due to start this month, while the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said 80 per cent of its staff have completed training on dealing with emergencies involving EVs.

But the bodies representing blue light responders are worried that a lack of awareness of the dangers – including fire or sudden explosion, inhalation of noxious substances and electrocution – could lead to serious injury.

Brian Jones, vice chair of the SPF, said the issue is a global problem.

“We’re still trying to get a risk assessment put in place for operational officers,” he told 1919. “But it’s not just Scotland, it’s around the world.

“The dangers of EVs can be quite significant if you don’t know what you’re dealing with, and that’s what the problem is – a lack of understanding and awareness.

“People assume that if they see steam and smoke coming from somewhere, then that’s what it is, but it’s not – it’s actually a vapour cloud. And that vapour cloud can explode.

“The lithium-ion batteries are the problem. They are so unstable.

“The only awareness package [for Scottish officers] is the one that the SPF has provided. Police Scotland haven’t done one yet – and yet one third of our fleet are high voltage electric vehicles.”

“The dangers of EVs can be quite significant if you don’t know what you’re dealing with, and that’s what the problem is – a lack of understanding and awareness”

Brian Jones, vice chair, Scottish Police Federation

That briefing paper states “any EV involved in a collision can be a significant risk to any first responder” and that incidents should be treated in the same way as an unexploded device, with a minimum exclusion zone of 100 metres.

The document states that police officers do not have access to the required standard of respiratory protection, nor the materials to attempt to fight fires involving EVs.

But Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs told 1919 training was due to get underway imminently.

He said: “For incidents involving lithium-ion batteries, Police Scotland follows the multi-agency incident response guidance, which was published in March 2024.

“Training for specialist officers on electric vehicles will commence [this month].

“A working group is in place that assesses the hazards and risks associated with lithium-ion batteries, ensuring awareness, preparedness and continuous review of training.

“Further guidance is being progressed around the deployment of resources to incidents involving EVs and a quick reference guide is being produced for attending officers.”

Assistant Chief Officer Craig McGoldrick, from the SFRS, said: “The safety of our staff is paramount when dealing with all emergencies including those involving lithium-ion batteries and we provide firefighters with training packages specifically for these types of incidents.

“So far, more than 80 per cent of our staff have completed these training modules, which include considerations at incidents involving lithium-ion batteries such as thermal runway, reignition and combustion.

“Our highly skilled crews will deploy a range of standard and specialist national resources as determined by the needs of any incident. This could include specialist tactical advice from hazardous material trained officers.

“We have also upskilled more than a hundred of our technicians from our workshops in maintenance and repair of our fleet of electric vehicles.”

‘The results could be catastrophic’

By Scott MacRory
Regional health and safety
representative, Fire Brigades Union

The risks faced by firefighters in the UK are always evolving.

Thanks to an enormous amount of community education, we attend fewer fires year on year.

Wildfires and flooding are more prominent than ever, with incidents lasting days, and even weeks.

One thing that we weren’t prepared for was the almost overnight surge in the use of electric vehicles (EVs) and lithium-ion batteries.

This boom in new technology is fantastic, but it also carries with it a new threat to firefighters, and one that we are only beginning to understand.

This threat comes in the form of rapid and self-sustaining fire, unpredictable explosions and deadly toxic vapour clouds.

Lithium-ion batteries are a very efficient way of storing huge amounts of energy, but the cells used can be highly unstable when they deteriorate, are damaged, disturbed, or overcharged.

EV batteries can contain anywhere up to 8,000 individual lithium-ion cells, depending on the type.

Each one of these cells has the ability to catch fire or explode, causing a chain reaction within the battery.

This is called ‘thermal propagation’, and once this has started, it is virtually impossible to extinguish using traditional firefighting methods, until the battery has burned itself out.

This can take hours to happen organically, and can be a huge risk to the public, the environment and emergency responders.

Thankfully, the number of reported EV battery fires is still considerably low, but with two million EVs (and hybrids) on the road in the UK right now, and with the number projected to double year-on-year, the risk is only going to get bigger.

All it takes is for an EV to go over debris in the road, or to be involved in an accident, and the results could be catastrophic.

Firefighters face a huge risk when attending these types of incidents, due to their unpredictable nature and speed with which the situation can develop.

We need stricter legislation on lithium-ion batteries, both in their use and disposal.

We need a national, collaborative approach across all emergency services in the training, awareness and preparedness of our first responders, and we need to hope that the next evolution in battery technology isn’t as inherently dangerous.