Unlike many electric vehicles that catch fire, this Mustang Mach-E ended up mostly intact except for its battery pack
When electric vehicles experience a thermal event in the battery that leads to a fire, extinguishing it can pose significant challenges. However, a recent fire involving a Ford Mustang Mach-E in Gdansk, Poland presents an interesting case in point. Authorities said they were able to successfully extinguish the fire and salvage a significant portion of the vehicle within just a few hours.
Indeed, some EV fires can remain a concern for a long time, as they have the potential to reignite even days after being initially extinguished, as we have seen many times in the past.
These fires can be particularly volatile and incidents involving batteries tend to be very intense and difficult to put out. Often, by the time the fire is finally brought under control, the vehicle has been significantly damaged or completely destroyed.
A video showing the Mustang Mach-E after the incident (see below) reveals that fire damage was significantly minimized. In order to prevent the fire from pressurizing the electric Ford, firefighters raised one side of the SUV and continuously directed water onto the battery.
As noted in a reply to the main thread of a tweet from the firefighters, which was seen by TireMeetsRoad, emergency crews were able to successfully mitigate the thermal threat in a total time of two hours. A spokesman for KM PSP in Gdansk reportedly confirmed that the interior of the vehicle was unaffected by the fire. It is not difficult to understand why either as crews were on the scene almost immediately after the fire broke out.
A separate video shows firefighters spraying water under the car moments after the fire broke out. Sources say that instead of being submerged the car will be monitored in a parking lot while the battery temperature is checked. This should prevent it from re-igniting.
According to a report by Polish news website Trojmiasto, this recent incident marks only the second recorded electric vehicle fire in Poland’s history. The previous case involved a Mercedes in the Pomeranian city, which took crews more than 21 hours to fully extinguish. Is it possible ford to fix this Mach-E? It sure looks like it’s in okay shape. Either way, it appears that early intervention is an important piece of the puzzle.
