Defusing The New ‘Hot' Cars

Firefighters and other first responders will tell you that risk is always part of what they encounter when they come upon an accident. And the way you minimize that risk, they will add, is to understand what you are up against by training for it. That’s what is happening in fire departments in Sussex County, N.J., in Orange County, N.Y., and in Pike County, Pa., as more and more drivers turn to vehicles that can get upwards of 45 miles to the gallon running on alternative energy sources. The problems are these: Depending on the model, the batteries in hybrid vehicles can carry 144 to 650 volts, levels that experts say can injure a person. By comparison, the electrical systems in conventional cars use 12-volt batteries. That’s an issue when using extrication equipment like the “Jaws of Life.” n The layout for the operating systems can vary from vehicle to vehicle, manufacturer to manufacturer. “Every engine is different, and every training session is different,” said Eric Slater, the assistant fire chief in Ogdensburg. “We had classes with Honda before but not Toyota. Now we see that Toyota is different. It’s tough. Basically, I will keep stuff like this in the fire engine. Then I will be able to check my notes.” n It’s difficult to immediately identify a hybrid. Manufacturers are not required to indicate on the outside of a vehicle that the car is a hybrid. The cars are marked on their doors or on the trunk usually, but often doors and lettering flies off in an accident. All of the cars are marked under the hood. Future Toyota models, meanwhile, will have external hybrid symbols. “For safety, you have to identify the vehicle and know what to do,” said Jeff Strauss, the first lieutenant of the Fredon, N.J., Fire Department. “The high voltage you are dealing with is another dilemma to figure out. But the last thing you need is another victim.” History Honda introduced the first gasoline-powered hybrid vehicle in the United States in 1990; Toyota followed a year later with its Prius. Ford and Chevrolet have followed. There are approximately 200,000 hybrids on American roads today. That’s a very small percentage of the cars and trucks driven in the country. For instance, of the 16.7 million cars and trucks sold in this country in 2003, 43,435, or less than half of one percent, were hybrids, according to a recent story in the Arizona Republic. But the number is expected to increase as manufacturers from Ford to Lexus to Saturn introduce new models - and as the price of gasoline increases. Toyota is the largest hybrid car manufacturer, selling most of their alternative-fuel vehicles in California, Florida and Arizona, according to Tom Mincer, general counsel for the Rosadao Group, which operates 11 car dealerships in the Pike County area. “Hybrids,” he said, “don’t sell well in the Northeast because they lack power.” None of the fire departments interviewed for this article have come upon an accident involving a hybrid vehicle. Still, there’s a need for preparation. What’s being done In Sussex County, teams from Ogdensburg, Wantage and Fredon recently attended Toyota hybrid emergency training sessions. Those programs were helpful, said Don Slate from Wantage Township Fire Company Number 1, in clearing up some potentially dangerous misconceptions. “Before, we all had the idea that the battery cable ran on the side of the car and that we couldn’t cut it. It turned out that it was an untruth.” Dave Aroune, the service manager at the Toyota dealership in Newton, will be attending Toyota classes this month in order to learn how to train first responders. Later this year, he added, the dealership will offer safety training programs every three months. “Firefighters really don’t need to be intimidated,” Aroune said. “We can’t let our technology interfere. You just have to be aware.” That’s the approach Bill Hickerson, chief of the Hardyston Township Volunteer Fire Department, is taking. The training he gives his men starts with the manuals that the dealers send them, which are used to create a quick-view sheet that tells firefighters the most important information needed to shut off the battery of the car. In an interview, he explained some of the differences firefighters would face with an accident involving a hybrid vehicle instead of a conventional car. In any accident, the firefighters chuck the wheels, but that’s especially important in an accident with a hybrid car, Hickerson said, because the engine often may still be on. (It runs silently, like a golf cart, the chief said). That’s important because the driver or even a rescue worker could inadvertently touch the gas pedal and set the car in motion; in accidents involving normal cars, the engine is usually killed by the impact. Then firefighters have to turn the car off and remove the keys. This is not necessarily an easy task, the chief said, because the car might have to be shifted into park or neutral, or in some fancier models, a park button might need to be pushed. (In some cars, there is no key in the ignition because the key is a chip the driver can carry anywhere on his person, and it automatically starts the car when he gets in and pushes a button. In these cases, firefighters need to find this chip, which might be anywhere, in a pocket or a purse, and move it 30 feet away from the vehicle. Some models also have a button that deactivates the chip.) Turning off the car should turn off the battery, but firefighters also disconnect the battery underneath the hood. Deactivating the 12-volt battery, which is like a normal car battery and is also present in hybrid cars, is sufficient. Deactivating that lower voltage battery, in other words, deactivates the high voltage one. In theory, any time the air bags are deployed, the battery is supposed to be automatically shut off, but the firefighters still need to check. Some manufacturers suggest the use of special gloves or suits. Hickerson said he has told his men they weren’t necessary because they would not be working on cars with the activated batteries. “We’re gonna make sure we kill the juice,” he said. Hardyston has three extrication training sessions a year. While they don’t ever do an extraction on a hybrid car, they do mark up a normal car with permanent markers to indicate where high power lines would be. The chief emphasized that training for hybrid cars is only a small part of the training needed to respond to the rapid changes occurring in cars. He also said they have asked dealers or residents to bring their hybrid cars in, so the men can take a look at them and learn their way around them. They are having one of these training sessions this month. Kathryn Kaplan contributed to this article.