Autonomous Jaguar EV That Caught Fire At Waymo Facility May Take Weeks To Extinguish

Fire crews in Arizona say that their official procedure for EV fires is now to cover them in wet sand for weeks after the fire has been put out

by Sebastien Bell

May 4, 2023 at 15:04

by Sebastien Bell

The Phoenix Fire Department had an opportunity to test its latest response tactics for electric vehicles due to a recent fire that broke out at a Waymo facility in Phoenix, Arizona. The incident involved a single electric Jaguar i-Pace modified by Waymo and requires a thorough extinguishing process that will take several weeks to complete.

What started the fire in the first place is still not known (we have reached out to Waymo for comment, but have not yet received a response), but the event started at one of the company’s facilities in Phoenix. Owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., it is used to download data collected by autonomous test vehicles during their daily operations.

The fire broke out on Tuesday, May 2 at 8:48 a.m. Though the situation was alarming, the facility’s sprinkler system was able to contain the blaze, preventing it from spreading to other vehicles. Fire crews arrived on the scene and worked to thoroughly extinguish the fire. Fortunately, all employees were safely evacuated, and there were no injuries reported in the incident.

Read: Tesla Model 3 Bursts Into Flames From Inside While Driving On The Road

Photos Phoenix Fire Department

However, due to the nature of the incident, more than 60 firefighters were dispatched to the location, and the road leading to the warehouse was temporarily shut down. Hazardous materials experts were also sent to assist in the situation, a response that according to the crews who spoke to Fox News, will be standard for any future EV-related fires.

Since electric vehicle batteries are so energy dense, they burn extremely hot, and are very hard to put out. Given the nature of the fires, and the relative novelty of electric vehicles, representatives with the department said that they are constantly developing new fire fighting strategies.

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In this case, crews worked to douse the flames with water. Once the blaze subsided, the vehicle, a Jaguar I-Pace modified by Waymo to incorporate autonomous driving technology, was moved outside.

The car was placed inside of a city dumpster, and buried in wet sand. 12 News reports that the vehicle will remain in the dumpster for up to three weeks, before being taken by an EV recycling facility.