Boron Extrication An in-depth look into vehicle extrication and rescues involving today's automobiles
Looking at the pictures, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? I hope one quick thought will make a light go one!
New Jersey highway officials say two cars were involved in an accident at a Garden State Parkway toll plaza that resulted in a car hitting a toll booth and bursting into flames. State Police Sgt. Brian Polite says a Toyota Prius driven by 86-year-old Ralph Schiller of Fort Lee was approaching the Bergen Toll Plaza in Saddle Brook around 3:30 p.m., when it side-swiped a Honda Accord driven by Kristie Frost of Pasadena, Md. Police say Schiller’s car continued forward and struck a barrier and a toll booth, and the booth and car both caught fire.
Below are a few key instructions from the Toyota Prius Hybrid Emergency Response Guide:
Offensive Fire Attack
Normally, flooding an NiMH HV battery pack with copious amounts of water at a safe distance will effectively control the HV battery pack fire by cooling the adjacent NiMH battery modules to a point below their ignition temperature. The remaining modules on fire, if not extinguished by the water, will burn themselves out. However, flooding the PRIUS c HV battery pack is not recommended due to the battery case design and location preventing the responder from properly applying water through the available vent openings safely. Therefore, it is recommended that the incident commander allow the PRIUS c HV battery pack to burn itself out.
Defensive Fire Attack
If the decision has been made to fight the fire using a defensive attack, the fire attack crew should pull back a safe distance and allow the NiMH battery modules to burn them selves out. During this defensive operation, fire crews may utilize a water stream or fog pattern to protect exposures or to control the path of smoke.
When allowed to burn themselves out, the PRIUS c NiMH battery modules burn rapidly and can quickly be reduced to ashes except for the metal.
Nearly every Emergency Response Guide that the automakers published is available for download on our Emergency Response Guides/ page.
