It Was A Dark And Stormy Night When All Of A Sudden 50 Electric Rivian Cars And Trucks Burst Into Flames….

Shortly before 10 pm on August 25th, a fire broke out at the Rivian electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois. The fire engulfed more than 50 vehicles. No one is saying what caused the conflagration, but when Lithium is involved, a fire gets complicated fast. Lithium battery fires actually produce oxygen that creates a vicious cycle that is called thermal runaway. This is a phenomenon where the hotter the fire gets the more oxygen is released that increases the fire heat and that releases more oxygen and so on. This type of fire is a problem.

The prevalence and utility of Lithium powered devices has increased dramatically in the United States and Sitka is no exception. Electric cars(EV), electric scooters, e-bikes, etc are present in Sitka in ever greater numbers. So why is this important for Sitka? Lithium fires are hard to fight and they are increasing in frequency. Not only does that mean our fire department needs to be expert in fighting this type of fire, but Sitka needs a disposal policy for the larger vehicle batteries that have reached their natural life span.

Asking the Assembly what our EV/battery disposal policy is only yielded silence. Gas powered vehicles can be crushed and shipped, however electric vehicle batteries cannot be crushed. We need a disposal policy. This policy needs to be publicized. It is only fair to consumers of these products that they know the cost of disposal. Question—Will the city allow the free drop off of these electric vehicles during clean-up week? P.S. contents of Lithium batteries and combustion products of battery fires are very toxic.