Toxic gas from burning batteries pose danger to firefighters

[Anchor]

Recently, fires involving lithium batteries used in electric vehicles have been occurring across the country.

Not only is it difficult to extinguish the burning batteries, but they also emit large amounts of toxic gases, making them even more dangerous.

Reporter Lee Ye-rin investigated how lethal these toxic gases can be to the human body.

[Report]

In August, a fire broke out in the underground parking lot of an apartment in Incheon.

The fire, which started from an electric vehicle's lithium-ion battery, resulted in significant damage, burning 87 vehicles.

Fires have also been reported in electric scooters and golf carts, and the number of battery fires has increased from just 51 cases in 2019 to 179 cases last year.

The problem lies in the harmful substances emitted from the burning batteries.

It has been pointed out that this poses a threat not only to nearby residents but also to the safety of firefighters.

Together with the fire authorities, we set fire to a lithium-ion battery used in electric vehicles.

Let's check how dangerous the substances released are when extinguishing a fire in an electric vehicle battery.

["One, two, three."]

Shortly after, an explosion sound is heard, and flames spread throughout the battery cells.

["Extinguish the fire."]

The time from the start of ignition to extinguishing the fire was just over 5 minutes.

During that time, it was confirmed that harmful toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide were released, and particularly, hydrofluoric acid, which is extremely lethal to the respiratory system, was detected.

[Han Dae-man/Firefighter, Gyeonggi Northern Special Response Team: "Hydrofluoric acid has been continuously detected since the start of ignition. In addition, various other substances have been detected in large quantities...."]

For the first time in domestic experiments, the toxic substance hexachloroethane was also detected.

[Yang Cheol-kyu/Fire Investigator, Yangju Fire Station, Gyeonggi Province: "There is a new substance that was generated during the extinguishing process. We need to analyze what that is. The protective gear we currently have seems to need some improvement."]

The fire authorities plan to analyze the results of this experiment to improve disaster response manuals and firefighter protective equipment.

KBS News, Lee Ye-rin.