In a portion of an interview aired on CNN's “Outfront” broadcast Friday, San Diego Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Rob Rezende said electric vehicles and their batteries pose additional problems in fighting recent fires in California. He said he was deaf.
“Just last month, the EPA approved states' ambitious plans to end sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035,” CNN national correspondent Natasha Chen said.
She then played a clip of Rezende saying, “Twenty, 30 years ago, when these things didn't exist in these fires, we didn't have to think about that.”
Next, Chen said, Rezende said, “The proliferation of household and EV batteries is creating new complexities for firefighting operations.” Before playing a clip in which he said, “When a battery starts to burn, it actually releases flammable gases like hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and then the battery's own oxygen as well. Therefore, putting out the fire is not very effective in this situation, nor is it effective even by pouring large amounts of water.”
Rezende also said, “That means the battery has to age a certain amount, and its chemistry has to be consumed before it stops catching fire.”
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