Electric Vehicle Safety Training Project PDF Files

The Electric Vehicle Safety Training project of the National Fire Protection Association has two very informative reports in pdf format.

U.S. National Electric Vehicle Safety Standards Summit report (pdf)

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the SAE International have released a summary report from the co-hosted U.S. National Electric Vehicle Safety Standards Summit held in October that focused on how current codes and standards address safety and electrical infrastructure concerns related to electric vehicles. The summary report prepared by the Fire Protection Research Foundation, an affiliate of NFPA, focuses on fundamental codes and standards issues as they pertain to electric vehicles in the areas of:  vehicles; built infrastructure; and emergency responders. 

 

Fire Fighter Safety and Emergency Response for Electric Drive and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (pdf)

As the use of alternative energy proliferates, the fire service has identified a number of areas of concern with hazard mitigation and emergency response. This includes electric and hybrid electric vehicles, which are introducing new and unexpected hazards to fire fighters and other emergency responders.

The goal of this report is to assemble and disseminate best practice information for fire fighters and fireground incident commanders to assist in their decision making process for handling electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Specifically, this study focuses on vehicles intended for roadway passenger use involving fire and/or rescue emergency situations, either on the roadway or at charging/docking stations (e.g., garages). The project deliverables will be in the form of a written report, which will include best practices that can serve as the basis for training program development by others.

The deliverables for this project collectively review the available baseline information, identify the fundamental principles and key details involving fire/rescue tactics and strategy, provide a summary of core basics, and address and clarify related issues such as training needs, areas needing further research, revisions to codes/standards, and other applicable topics.

A companion study to this report focuses on solar power systems rather than electric and hybrid electric vehicles (Fire Fighter Safety and Emergency Response for Solar Power Systems, FPRF). This has taken an identical approach and focuses on assembling and disseminating best practice information for fire fighters and fireground incident commanders to assist in their decision making process. This companion report addresses buildings and other structures with solar power systems that are intended to supply power to the respective structure, with a primary focus on solar photovoltaic panels used for electric power generation.

This overall initiative (consisting of the reports on Electric Drive and Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Solar Power Systems) is funded through a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG).