Call Fire Brigade for Electric Vehicle Fires

Owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are being urged to call the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) in the event of a fire and not to try to put out the flames themselves.

“If you have an electric vehicle and a fire starts, get out and get away as fast as you can. Lithium-ion battery fires are not the easiest to extinguish,” said JFB Public Education Officer, Superintendent Emeleo Ebanks.

He was addressing a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank held at the agency’s head office in Kingston.

Lithium-ion battery fires are difficult to control because they involve a self-sustaining chemical reaction, which produces intense heat, flammable gases, and toxic fumes, leading to rapid spread.

EV fires can burn up to eight hours and may even reignite after seeming to be extinguished.

“You have to leave that to the experts to take care of,” Superintendent Ebanks said.

“The general fire extinguishers that you know will not put out a lithium-ion fire, and if you put water on a lithium fire it is the same result as putting water on oil,” he noted.

More than 700 firefighters have received specialised training in relation to managing EV fires.

The JFB remains committed to protecting the lives and properties of Jamaicans.