Bossier Firefighters EV Fire Training

Bossier Parish firefighters and emergency personnel attended three days of Electric Vehicle (EV) fire training organized by the Louisiana Fire Emergency Training Academy (FETA)… at the Benton/BPEMS office on Swan Lake Road.

The FETA training is designed to provide emergency responders with the necessary information to respond to emergencies involving electric and hybrid vehicles now on the road.

This training was provided by the National Fire Protection Association and funded by a 4.4 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

“We don’t want to be reactive; we want to be proactive,” said Jacob Maddox, Chief of Training for Benton Fire District #4.

Maddox said earlier this year that they responded to its first EV fire when an electric UTV plugged into the house caught fire.

“This training that we’re attending is going over things to look for, how to identify an electric vehicle and other alternative fuel vehicles. How to prevent safety concerns from causing injuries or further problems while on the incident, and how to disable or prevent some of those safety concerns,” Maddox said.

The training is part of the Department of Energy’s overarching goal of increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road. However, with increased production and availability of EV models, including electric school buses and transit buses, emergency responders need training resources to prepare to manage incidents and risks involving EVs safely.