Ziamatic’s new vehicle cooling units tackle the growing challenge of vehicle fires

For fire departments worldwide, vehicle fires are an ever-evolving challenge.

According to a report by the National Fire Protection Association, an estimated 212,500 vehicle fires caused 560 civilian deaths, 1,500 civilian injuries, and $1.9 billion in direct property damage in the US alone in 2018.

In the US, vehicle fires accounted for nearly one in every eight reported fires.

Now, an increasing number of vehicle fires around the world involve electrical vehicles.

It is estimated that there are over 20 million electric vehicles on the road today, far more than the 1 million electric vehicles on the road in 2016.

According to a report from Bloomberg last year, China accounted for 46 percent of the total electric vehicle sales, followed by Europe at 34 percent, and North America at a distant third at 15 percent.

While fires in electric vehicles happen less often than those with internal combustion engines, they do present unique challenges to firefighters. Fires in electric vehicles often take crews longer to handle than those in vehicles with internal combustion engines. 

For fire crews, electrical vehicle batteries are hard to reach, difficult to cool down, and the energy created with thermal runaway can easily re-ignite or spread from cell to cell.

Ziamatic’s innovation in firefighting

Ziamatic’s new Vehicle Cooling Units could be the answer to the challenges created by fires in both electric and internal combustion vehicles, with 1-meter (VCU-36) and 2-meter (VCU-72) options available.

Ziamatic’s new Vehicle Cooling Units adapt to conventional fire hoses.

They can be slid underneath vehicles with a ground clearance of less than 14 centimeters and still be very effective.

Ziamatic’s VCU-36 unit uses as little as 151 liters of water per minute.

A lot of time and effort went into the creation of the Vehicle Cooling Units, according to Keith Creely, VP of Ziamatic Corp.

It all started with feedback from local fire departments.

“Local departments came to us with a concern,” Creely tells. “Their concern was that it is difficult to not only extinguish vehicle fires, but it is sometimes hard to access the areas heating up or burning.

“This requires someone to lift the vehicle to spray copious amounts of water on areas that are heating up or on fire.

“Ziamatic has designed vehicle cooling units that can be used on vehicles that have as little as 14 centimeters of ground clearance and still be effective helping control vehicle fires.

“Ziamatic chose to focus on designing something that made it safer for the firefighter and also addressed decreasing water flow from the typical 302-378 liters per minute to 151-302 liters per minute.”

According to Creely, the size of the different units (1 meter and 2 meters) is critical in cooling an adequate area of a vehicle: “The lengths offered were chosen when we evaluated the areas needing to be cooled and extinguished simultaneously.

“If you approach the vehicle from the side, our 1-meter Vehicle Cooling Unit will be effective saturating a 1.2 x 2.4-meter area.

“If you approach the vehicle from the front or back, our 2-meter Vehicle Cooling Unit would be effective saturating a 2.1 x 2.4-meter area.

“Another approach is using the 2-meter VCU from the side of a vehicle, with both ends protruding out from under the vehicle, so that some of the spray is free flowing and not confined under the vehicle.”

Other applications

The Vehicle Cooling Units have other uses. They may also be used as under-carriage cleaning sprayers.

“It has been said that our VCUs can be used under vehicles as an under-carriage cleaning sprayer due to the high velocity water flow at higher pressures similar to a drive through a car wash,” Creely explains.

“It has also been said that linking multiple units together can be used as a water curtain, helping to protect property and structure from fire or heat nearby.”

According to Creely, Ziamatic’s Vehicle Cooling Units may be the most effective, cost-efficient option on the market.

“We believe our design is superior when used on an electric vehicle in that the velocity allows the water to travel along the pan which constantly draws heat away,” says Creely.

“It is not just spraying and dropping off or misting the area.

“Our website shows this feature really well using Plexiglass so we could see what patterns we would get at different PSI.”   

Since their release in the spring, the feedback of Ziamatic’s VCUs has been positive.

“Most departments are giving us very good feedback,” Creely says.

“Departments are continuously training with them and are impressed at the water flow they can achieve and the effectiveness of how much the VCU can cover at very low ground clearances.”

Creely feels like the market for Ziamatic’s VCUs will continue to grow.

“We feel that it is a larger market for now, but only because the US had not embraced these vehicles as fast,” he adds.

“It seems there is a lot of incentive to buy electric vehicles now, and the skepticism behind the dependability and distance one can drive is subsiding.

“So yes, we feel the VCU product line can be an immediate game changer in a safer way to address the electric vehicle issue.”

This article was originally published in the November 2023 issue of International Fire & Safety Journal. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.