WYNNE — The Wynne Fire Department has increased its focus on training in the new year. A group of firemen participated in a class this past weekend in Jonesboro focused on electric vehicle fires.
Capt. Billy Howton of the Wynne Fire Department said there are a growing number of electric vehicles on the road, and they can pose a significant threat if they catch on fire.
“The whole bottoms of those cars is a whole battery system,” Capt. Howton said. “There are about 7,000 batteries in a Tesla car that are a little bit bigger than a Double A battery. When those things get hot or get damaged, they do what’s called a thermal runaway. Once they start getting hot, there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
Capt. Howton said the best thing electric vehicle owners can do is to make sure their cars are receiving a proper charge.
Capt. Howton said firefighters also recently took part in a vertical ventilation class.
“If you have a house fire, a structure will fill up with hot gasses and ignitable smoke. The easiest way to get that out of there is to cut a hole in the roof,” he said. “That will allow those toxic gasses to exit the structure through the roof and create a more survivable space inside of a structure.”
Capt. Howton said the department has increased its training hours this year, including a 12-hour course in February on auto extrication.
“[The class entailed] Removing people from vehicles that have been involved in an accident, whether that’s popping a door, or if you’ve got to take the roof off and practicing getting victims out of those situations safely,” he said. “In March, we did the ventilation class. In April, we have a ropes and knots class, which is the basics of how to tie knots and what knots are good to use where. In May, we have a structural search and rescue class coming up. That’s learning how to go in, find a victim, and how to remove that victim from a burning structure safely and effectively.”
