Electric car in Zwettl: dramatic accident and violent vehicle fire!

Electric car in Zwettl: dramatic accident and violent vehicle fire!

On April 22, 2025, a serious accident occurred in Zwettl, Lower Austria. At 7:35 p.m., the Zwettl-Stadt volunteer fire brigade was alerted to a vehicle fire with human rescue. The electric vehicle had failed due to a technical frailty and could no longer brake. As a result, it plunged into the Kamp in the intersection of Gerungser Straße through a bridge railing about three meters deep.

extinguishing measures and environmental provision

The operations management decided to suffocate the fire with foam. An oil lock was also built downstream by the FF Abbey Zwettl to minimize potential environmental pollution. During the extinguishing measures, the two occupants were looked after by the emergency services and transported to a clinic. The vehicle, on the other hand, was recovered with a crane after cooling and loaded to a trailer. Due to the risk of fire, it was secured in a trough flooded with water and transported to Zwettl to the ÖAMTC base.

The entire duration of the service was around three hours before the fire brigades were able to move in again after completing the work. This type of inserts illustrates the complexity of fire fighting in electric vehicles due to the special risks that arise from lithium-ion batteries. Donato Muro, a fire protection expert, makes it clear that the causes of fire of electric vehicles are diverse and can be attributed to improper assembly or incorrect battery cells. The fire fighting in such vehicles can be more complex than with conventional cars, while the probability of a fire is similarly low.

risks and challenges for electric vehicles

As is listed in an analysis of the DEKRA, battery-electric vehicles have the lowest fire rate compared to hybrid and combustion vehicles. Hybrid vehicles show a higher risk because they combine all three causes of fire: independent causes, causes in the area of ​​the battery and combustion-specific causes. In the case of electric vehicles, it is also important to note that causes of fire can also be caused by unsuitable chargers or inadequate electrical installations.

The fire brigade is able to delete burning electric vehicles, but this is often more complex because the high -voltage batteries are installed in waterproof housings. The German Fire Brigade Association underlines that it is possible to deglaze electric vehicles, but special preparations are necessary. The fire -fighting challenges for electric vehicles are not only a danger to the vehicles themselves, but also for the emergency services who have to be trained in the event of fire in order to act successfully.

In summary, these incidents underline the need to constantly improve and adapt the safety precautions and knowledge of electric vehicles in order to protect both the occupants and the fire brigade.

fireworld.at reports about the details of the incident security engineer.nrw highlights the risks of electric vehicles and their fire fighting, while Dekra more information about the causes of the fire of electric vehicles.