EVs, plastics and electronics in cars a growing concern for fire loads in parking garages

The intensity of fires in parking garages are a growing risk factor in firefighting: High heat, the potential for accumulation of explosive fire gases, low visibility and limited ventilation are all contributing to a high risk situation. But it is not just EVs that are at fault. 

The 2018 Liverpool garage fire, where 1000 vehicles completely burned out, may serve as a reminder of how large garage fires can become and how difficult they can be to fight when they occur: residents living in nearby apartments were forced to leave as 21 fire crews tackled the fire which began when a Land Rover caught fire. 

In the 2020 Stavanger Airport fire, the garage was able to accommodate 3,000 cars, and it was almost completely full at the time of the fire. It is estimated that only around 10 %, of the cars were destroyed. Even so, the smoke and explosions caused all arriving and departing flights to be halted. Nearby buildings were also evacuated. 

In the Luton airport fire in 2024 more than 1400 vehicles in Terminal Car Park 2 were destroyed on October 10. At its height, more than 100 firefighters were called to the fire and aircraft were grounded until the following day, according to the fire service.

In a joint report, Bedfordshire's fire and police services said the likely cause was an electrical fault or a component failure in a moving diesel vehicle.

Garage fire reached almost 3000 degrees - prompted national emergency meeting about safety of EVs

In August 2024, an underground garage fire in a South Korea apartment complex raged for over eight hours, reaching 2732 degrees Fahrenheit / 1500 degrees Celsius. The fire caused extensive damage, destroyed nearly 900 vehicles and left 23 people with smoke inhalation. 

As CTIF.org also wrote on June 27, 2024, the fire followed a deadly incident where 22 people died in a lithium battery explosion in a factory fire earlier the same summer, also in South Korea.  Officials stated that the victims likely succumbed to extremely toxic gas within seconds of the fire getting out of control. 

These incidents prompted the South Korea government to hold an emergency meeting about the safety of electric vehicles. (Editors Note: The battery factory explosion was in the production line for lithium metal batteries, which is a different type of lithium batteries than what is used in electroc vehicles.  EVs use primarily Lithium-Ion batteries.) 

Explosion of combustible gases from burning Lithium-Ion battery may have killed two firefighters  

In a recent parking 2025 underground garage fire in a Madrid suburb, two firefighters lost their lives in a supposed explosion of accumulated fire gases from a burning EV which which caught on fire in a collision while parking. The parking garage reportedly had poor ventilation which contributed to the rapid and explosive fire development. 

Increased fire load due to more added equipment, plastics and new fuel types

Electric vehicles aren't the sole concern—an increase in plastic and electronics in cars is sparking renewed attention on fire hazards and strategies to address risks in garages.

In an October 2022 article on Zurich North America, concern is raised over over intense parking garage fires. 

Parking garages, the article argues, were once considered low-profile when it came to commercial property fire risk—always nearby, but seldom causing major issues. 

Recently, however, a series of intense, fast-moving, and challenging-to-extinguish fires have shifted focus onto these garages and their evolving inhabitants: modern vehicles packed with increasing amounts of plastic and electronics, including a growing number of electric cars and even EV battery charging stations.

The design of parking garages often facilitates the spread of fire

In the 2021 paper "Why Fires in Parking Garages Present a Multi-Level Risk" by Leo Ronken, a Senior Underwriting Consultant for Gen Re’s Global Underwriting department in Cologne, it is argued that by design, parking garages often feature open horizontal and vertical spaces that can facilitate the spread of fires. Freestanding garages offer the benefit of containing fires more effectively, preventing heat and smoke from easily reaching nearby structures.

On the other hand, garages integrated into larger buildings present heightened risks. Fires, along with smoke and by-products of combustion, can infiltrate upper sections of the building through hollow cavities, stairwells, elevator shafts, or utility areas. This not only creates serious safety hazards but also increases the likelihood of extensive damage.

In some cases, fires in parking garages can compromise the structural integrity of the entire building, raising concerns of potential collapse.

Sprinklers will tested for parking garages by the NFPA 

An April 2024 article from the NFPA Research Foundation echoes the concerns regarding the growing amounts of synthetics in cars and defines it as a modern hazard in parking structures and systems.  

"Vehicles have changed significantly over the years. Modern vehicles present new hazards due to the incorporation of larger quantities of combustible materials (e.g. fuels, plastics, synthetic materials, etc.) into their designs. As alternative fuel vehicles are popularized, concerns regarding their unique hazards, burn characteristics, and typical burn duration have been raised. Compared to older vehicles, modern vehicles burn differently."

The NFPA post has several downloadable reports about projects for parking garage safety, including Classification of Modern Vehicle Hazards in Parking Structures & Systems and Full Scale Fire and Sprinkler Testing.