Florence Fire Department train on how to put out an electric vehicle fire

FLORENCE, Ala. (WHNT) — The Florence Fire Department went through training for electrical vehicle fires.

Electric vehicles, becoming more popular, are out on the roadways. Jason Kelley, training chief at Florence Fire, said his department is seeing electric cars frequently.

“They absolutely have grown in popularity over the last several years,” Kelley said.

But the vehicle fires are common, and electric vehicle fires are not as common.

“The biggest concern with electrical vehicle fires is the battery going into thermal runaway, that occurs when an individual cell becomes damaged,” Kelley said.

The electric vehicle fires are also harder to handle, according to the Florence Fire Department.

“It starts a chain reaction through thermal propagation, which starts involving other individual