Fire in furniture store: laptop and toothbrush discovered as cause of fire!

Fire in furniture store: laptop and toothbrush discovered as cause of fire!

On Friday afternoon there was a car fire in the parking lot of a furniture store, to which the professional fire department was called. When the emergency services arrived, the vehicle was heavily fogged up and the windows were showing significant heat. It was not possible to see inside the car, but the suspicion of a fire was quickly confirmed. The vehicle owner commented on the incident over the house's loudspeaker system and indicated that there was a laptop and a cell phone in the vehicle, which were possible causes of the fire. The fire department decided to use shunting rollers to move the car out of the parking level into the open air in order to be able to work safely.

The emergency services opened the vehicle outdoors using respiratory protection and triple fire protection. When it was opened, thick, dark smoke came out of the inside of the car and the source of the fire was located in the trunk. The firefighters discovered the suspected ignition source in a backpack: an electric toothbrush. This may have started the fire, but it could not spread further in the closed vehicle because the fire itself went out due to a lack of oxygen inside the car. Despite the significant property damage, no one was injured.

Fire hazard with electric vehicles

The cause of the fire in this particular incident could have multiple dimensions. As DEKRA reports, there are no comprehensive statistics on vehicle fires in Germany. However, the widespread belief that electric vehicles pose a higher risk of fire is often unclear. Studies show that hybrid vehicles are the most likely to catch fire, followed by internal combustion engines, while battery-electric cars are the least likely to be affected. Causes of fire are divided into three groups: independent causes, causes in the battery area and specific combustion causes.

The risk of fire with electric vehicles is no higher than with other types of vehicles, according to the German Fire Brigade Association (DFV). Combustion vehicles are more likely to catch fire during or after operation, while electric vehicles often catch fire when parked, especially when charging. Defective chargers or inadequate electrical installations can also lead to fires. In addition, a so-called “thermal runaway” can occur in batteries if an internal short circuit occurs, which leads to an escalation in heat generation.

Risks and fire safety measures

Nevertheless, the risks of electric vehicles need not be overstated. The AutoScout24 explains that mechanical damage to the battery, especially in serious accidents, is the most common cause of fire. Modern crash structures protect the battery, but extreme collisions can lead to internal short circuits. The development of safety measures, such as Tesla's enhanced underbody protection, demonstrates efforts to reduce fire-related incidents in electric vehicles.

The challenges for the fire department in extinguishing a burning electric vehicle lie in the design of the high-voltage batteries. These are installed in waterproof housings and require special equipment to effectively introduce extinguishing agents. However, despite strict quality controls in production, production errors can occur and the aging of the batteries can also lead to the formation of dendrites that cause short circuits.

It should be noted that although the risk of fire in electric vehicles cannot be rated higher than in classic combustion engines, it still requires essential safety precautions and conscious action on the part of vehicle owners in order to minimize the risk of further incidents.