No Human Casualties but Airport Operations Disrupted
Growing Concerns Over Electric Vehicle Safety
Recently, while electric vehicle fires occurred in the underground parking lot of a large apartment complex in Incheon and on the streets of Yongin, a large fire caused by electric vehicles in Portugal has drawn attention.
A column of black smoke rising at the site of an electric vehicle fire in Portugal. [Image source=Captured from X (formerly Twitter)]
On the 17th (local time), local media such as Resident in Portugal reported that a fire broke out around 6 p.m. the previous day in a rental car parking lot near Humberto Delgado International Airport in Lisbon, Portugal, destroying more than 200 vehicles. The fire is believed to have started from an electric vehicle parked there and spread to other vehicles. Authorities explained that the fire occurred only on the second floor of the two-story parking lot, and even among the vehicles that were not burned, some may have been damaged by the heat emitted from the fire.
It was also reported that a thick column of smoke formed above the fire site, causing delays in several flights and disrupting airport operations. However, the fire occurred in an industrial area, so the damage did not spread to nearby residential areas. No injuries were reported.
The fire was extinguished around 11 p.m. the previous day, about five hours after it started. Authorities mobilized about 140 firefighters and other personnel to quickly extinguish the fire, but they struggled due to flammable materials such as car fuel and the wind.
In South Korea, on the 16th at around 7:40 p.m., a fire broke out under a Tesla electric vehicle parked on the road in Gugal-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi Province. The vehicle was not charging at the time and was parked on the street. Fire authorities dispatched about 50 firefighters and 20 pieces of equipment, including pump trucks, to extinguish the fire, and managed to control the major flames by 10:57 p.m., about 3 hours and 10 minutes after the report. Complete extinguishment was achieved at 11:53 p.m.
Earlier, on the morning of the 1st, a fire also broke out in a parked Mercedes electric vehicle in the underground parking lot of Apartment A in Cheongna International City, Seo-gu, Incheon. Due to the fire, 22 residents who inhaled smoke and one firefighter showing symptoms of heat-related illness were treated in hospital. Additionally, 87 vehicles were burned and 783 vehicles were scorched by the spreading fire. As large-scale fire incidents caused by electric vehicles continue to be reported, concerns about the safety of electric vehicles are growing.
In fact, according to statistics from the Korea Insurance Development Institute on the 18th, from 2019 to last year, there were 53 cases of electric vehicle own-damage insurance claims due to fire or explosion. This corresponds to 0.93 cases per 10,000 electric vehicles. During the same period, there were 6,256 fire or explosion cases involving non-electric vehicles, with an accident rate of 0.90 cases per 10,000 vehicles.
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