Council members voted to adopt amendments to the 2021 version of the International Fire Code pertaining to electric vehicle charging stations for commercial, mixed-use and multifamily properties during the June 2 meeting. The International Fire Code helps establish minimum regulations for fire prevention and fire protection systems.
Flower Mound’s Fire Marshal Jason Bolejack served on a statewide task force that discussed potential regulations to curb the safety risks posed by lithium-ion batteries that are in electric vehicles, Fire Chief Paul Henley said.
“This is an emerging threat,” Henley said. “These [fires] can reach temperatures up to 4,000 degrees [Fahrenheit]; whereas, an internal combustion engine [fire] can only reach 2,000 degrees [Fahrenheit]. The difference there is that [internal combustion engine fires] can be put out by water.”
The details
While electric vehicle charging stations within households pose a fire risk, the amended fire code is targeted at chargers in the parking lots and garages for businesses or multifamily residential buildings that typically have higher voltage.
According to town documents, regulations for charging stations within a commercial, mixed-use development or multifamily complex parking structure include:
- Requiring all electric vehicle charging stations to be on the first floor and near an exterior wall of a parking structure or the surface level of a parking lot
- Stipulating an emergency power shut off switch between 20 feet and 100 feet of the electric charger location
- Requiring early response fire suppression sprinklers to help fight a potential electric vehicle fire
- Mandating property owners with at least five charging stations provide a fire suppression blanket
- Requiring bollards or barriers to protect charging stations from a collision
Placing the charging stations on the ground floor of lots and structures would help mitigate structural risks to a parking garage and make it easier for firefighters to remove an electric vehicle, Henley said.
How we got here
Between 15% and 30% of electric vehicle fires occurred during charging from 2010 through June 2023, Henley said. The other 70% occur because of collisions.
Conventional fire suppression and containment methods are not effective at fighting electric vehicle fires, he added. Those fires also pose a risk by releasing toxic gases or potentially reigniting after a fire appears to be put out, Henley said.
“The heavy metals actually get into whatever you’re wearing, and our bunker gear is no exception,” Henley said. “[We’ll have to put] that $6,000 pair of bunker gear in the trash because it’s going to cost $3,000 to clean it and you’re still not going to get all of the heavy metals out.”
Unlike gasoline car fires, an electric vehicle fire is resistant to foam and requires a lot of water to extinguish. Henley said using water to fight electrical fires also poses a risk because it could wash the dangerous compounds from the battery into nearby watersheds, such as Grapevine Lake or Denton Creek.
If the department does not use a suppression system, such as a blanket to extinguish the fire, the best method to put out an electric vehicle fire in a roadway might be letting it burn out, he added.
“Once the battery is involved, it’s basically a hazmat incident,” Henley said.
What they’re saying
Council member Ann Martin asked Henley if there could be a situation where firefighters could be told to stand down.
Henley told council members that first responders could be ordered to stand down, namely if an incident occurred beyond the first level of a parking garage.
Kyle Cooper, a development manager with Lakeside’s developer Realty Capital, said that he hopes to work with fire officials to come up with a compromise to allow some electric vehicle charging stations beyond the first floor of existing development, which can be a convenience to residents. He added that the developer has no issues meeting the additional safety requirements, such as providing a blanket.
“Limiting to the ground floor severely limits a sense of security for residents,” Cooper said. “3111 [Sunset Boulevard] is an open parking garage on the ground floor. If we were to force EV chargers to that floor, a tenant may choose to live in a Frisco [development] because they have EV chargers on a more secure upper level garage.”
Henley said his primary focus is looking at the overall safety aspects pertaining to electric vehicle fire risks in Flower Mound.
What else?
Fire officials and Realty Capital are expected to continue discussions about the impact of the new requirements.
“I think we are close on [3111 Sunset Boulevard],” Henley said.
