NATIONWIDE — The proliferation of electric and hybrid vehicles brings with it a host of technical and societal challenges, including, “How do we build out a network of EV charges that allows for extended travel?” and “Without the ability to rev our engines, how will my neighbor wake me up outside my window at five in the morning?”

More seriously, they also bring with them unique challenges for firefighters. 

Electric vehicles don’t burn the same way internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles do. With an ICE vehicle, it’s the gas that fuels a fire; with an EV, it’s the lithium-ion battery that firefighters have to worry about. That difference gives firefighters a whole new set of challenges to worry about when it comes to fighting EV fires. 

The U.S. Fire Administration put together a guide on EV Fire and Rescue Response Operations in July 2025. The following tips are excerpted from that guide. 

• How best to extinguish an EV fire is still a topic of research, according to the guide. “At present, there is not a generally accepted, scientifically validated method for effectively extinguishing EV fires of all types.”
• If an EV is on fire and there’s no risk to its surroundings, the guide recommends to just let the fire burn itself out. 
• If a fire needs to be extinguished, “plain water appears to be the best available extinguishing agent for EV fires,” reads the guide. “Compared to an ICE vehicle fire, EV fires will likely require much larger quantities of water, delivered at higher flow rates over a longer period of time.”
• The guide mandates the use of proper protective equipment, due to the toxins involved in batteries. Toxic byproducts that can be released in a fire include PFAS, hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen cyanide.
• EV fires can reignite long after they appear to have gone out. This poses risks to tow trucks and other responders. 
• Because of the battery-powered nature of the vehicles, EVs post a greater risk of electric shock than ICE vehicles. First responders should treat burning EVs as electric shock hazards until it’s proved that they’re safe, according to the guide.