KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — A total of 27 cases of fire involving electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid cars were recorded by the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) from 2023 to July this year, with an average of 10 cases per year nationwide.
Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government Datuk Aiman Athirah Sabu said while EVs can help reduce dependence on fossil fuels and are more environmentally friendly, they still pose a significant fire risk.
“JBPM considers EV fires one of the biggest challenges due to the high level of risk during firefighting operations.
“The use of fire blankets is among the most effective methods for extinguishing electric vehicle fires, in addition to water and foam,” she said during a question-and-answer session at the Dewan Negara today.
She was responding to a question from Senator Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim, who wanted to know whether the ministry plans to purchase and supply fire blankets to fire stations in major cities following the recent increase in EV and hybrid car fire incidents.
Commenting further, Aiman Athirah said the Fire and Rescue Department had procured 318 units of fire blankets worth RM915,000 this year to be distributed to selected fire stations nationwide.
“In addition, the department also received 30 units of fire blankets from the Malaysia Zero Emission Vehicle Association (MyZEVA), which had been distributed in stages starting December 2024 until May 13 this year,” she said.
According to her, the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department is also studying the use of other special equipment, including cooling agents or immersion containers, as alternatives in electric vehicle extinguishing operations.
“Currently, the cooling agent used by the department to extinguish fire on electric vehicles is water, which aims to reduce the heat level of the battery and thus prevent the fire from becoming larger and spreading to other areas.
“The use of other cooling agents such as dry powder, clean agent and inert gas is not suitable for use in open areas because it requires the concept of total flooding to function effectively,” she said in response to a supplementary question by Ahmad regarding other methods of extinguishing EV vehicle fires. — Bernama
