A drill for a very real threat: Normal Fire practices response to EV fires

NORMAL ( 25News Now ) - Heartland Community College is sounding the alarm to improve response to large-scale emergencies at its electric vehicle lab.

“Electric vehicles are becoming more prevalent in our society, and that’s only going to increase. So, any opportunity we have to train on something like this is a training that we’re going to try to utilize,” said Matt Swaney, the spokesperson for the Normal Fire Department.

It’s only a drill, but Heartland Community College’s electric vehicle lab models a very real threat: responding to a lithium-ion battery fire.

First responders arrived on the scene within four to five minutes, responding to the fire as if it were the real thing.

“We are in a very unique [location] in that we have several facilities in town where electric vehicles an