Photos by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Homewood fire Chief Brandon Broadhead.
Homewood Fire Chief Brandon Broadhead isn’t waiting for a catastrophe to begin discussions about where electric vehicle charging stations should be allowed in public spaces.
“I know this is kind of a touchy subject sometimes, … but inside, under a building, is very dangerous,” Broadhead said. “And I just would not do my job if I didn’t come and say, ‘Hey, that’s going to be quite a challenge for us to put out.’”
Broadhead said it’s his job to inform the mayor and council of potential hazards that he can’t mitigate.
City attorneys are working in concert with the fire chief to draft an ordinance that would prevent the electric vehicle charging stations from being put underground or under inhabited structures.
Photos by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
An electric vehicle charging station at the Target in Homewood.
“It’s not that we’re anti-EV. That’s not it at any means,” the chief said. “[Electric vehicles] can have a potentially hazardous fire, and I don’t have the ability to fight it or to extinguish it like a standard car fire. I’m just trying to limit the effects of the fire by not putting them under buildings that are occupied or in underground parking decks.”
Andrews Sports Medicine (under construction at the former Brookwood Village shopping center) is a good example of that, as well as the Target adjacent to it, Broadhead said.
“The Target has electric stations, charging stations, but they are outside of the parking deck,” he said. “We still have a method for people to be able to put them in. We’re just asking them not to put them inside [and] under the buildings. We want to limit it to outside of the structures, and we want to be very careful.”
The proposed ordinance does not affect residential properties, including personal garages or homes.
“That is a decision they have to make for their family.”
Broadhead said the EV industry has done a good job of reducing risk, provided the consumer is using the correct charger and the correct method.
“What we’re looking for is that you get UL-listed chargers,” he said. “And this doesn’t just go for EV. This is any charger you get. Get UL-listed chargers that are rated for what you’re doing. Studies have shown that if you have all of the correct components, the risk of fire is relatively low — really no higher than your gasoline cars.”
“But when they do burn, they’re extremely hard to put out,” the chief said. “It’s not that I advise families against it. It’s just that they need to know the risk and decide what works for them.”
Electric vehicles go into what is called thermal runaway when they do have a problem. That generates thousands of degrees of heat that can come out in the form of small jets or little puff outs or jet valves.
“That is what’s extremely dangerous,” Broadhead said. “A standard car fire doesn’t burn that hot, and then we also have materials to put out a car fire. We carry what we call foam, which works on gasoline to help put it out. We don’t have that yet for these EV cars.”
The chief sent his fire marshal and another staffer to a battery research class in September to learn how the technology is changing.
“We’re actively looking for new methods to help fight these fires and to make sure the public’s safe,” he said.
