EV fire safety for car parks

The risk

Cars in a car park sit side by side, often under a roof. When one electric car's battery goes into thermal runaway, the heat reaches the cars either side, and a fire on one car can become a fire on a row of them.

A lithium battery in thermal runaway makes its own oxygen, so cutting off the air does nothing to it, and a pack that looks out can reignite hours or days later. Putting it out is the fire service's job, normally by cooling the pack with very large volumes of water over a long period.

What a Fire Cloak does

The Fire Cloak 8 x 6m is a fire limitation blanket. Two people pull it over the burning car by its handles. It holds the flames, heat and smoke under the blanket, which protects the cars either side and the structure while the fire service is on its way. It will not put the fire out. Its job is to contain it, so the crew arrive at one burning car instead of several.

It is certified to DIN SPEC 91489:2024-11, the specification written for EV fire blankets, and rated A2-s1, d0 under EN 13501-1. The 8 x 6m size covers saloons, hatchbacks, compact vans and smaller 4x4s, and it weighs 28kg in its waterproof bag.

Before you buy

Call 999 first, every time. The blanket is for trained staff working to a written procedure that says who fetches it, who puts it over the car and when. NFPA and UL FSRI research and an IAFF advisory (June 2025) warn of explosion risk from gas building up under a blanket on a battery fire, which is why the training and the procedure matter. Staff who haven't been trained should move people back and wait for the fire service.

Think about where the blankets live. On a large or multi-storey site, work out how far a blanket has to travel to reach the furthest bay, and how two people get it there. Our guide Do EV fire blankets work? covers the rest.