DETROIT – A fire that broke out at a General Motors electric vehicle plant in Detroit this week was caused by an incident with a forklift, officials said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Dec. 19, a fire caused an evacuation of GM’s Factory ZERO, an EV production plant located on the border of Detroit and Hamtramck. In an update provided Wednesday, authorities said the fire was caused by a forklift that “accidentally” punctured a container holding battery materials.
The 4.5 million square-foot plant was evacuated Tuesday afternoon as heavy smoke reportedly spread through the facility. All employees were safe and accounted for, and no injuries were reported from the fire, officials said.
The fire at the plant, which employs about 1,880 people, was declared a third-alarm fire, meaning authorities requested triple the usual number of firefighters and equipment to fight the flames. GM temporarily stopped production Tuesday, canceling the second shift for the day.
Production at the plant resumed on Wednesday.
The Detroit Fire Department says crews have been to the EV plant at least six other times since August this year due to various issues. In a statement provided Wednesday, GM officials said not all of those incidents were battery related, and they were not all fires.
“We call the local fire department to ensure we have immediate help with incidents regardless of severity,” the statement reads, in part. “Some incidents were minor and quickly contained, while other incidents required assistance from the fire department. We take each occurrence seriously with full investigations and appropriate actions to avoid future incidents.”
Fire officials say the department is working with GM on storage solutions to prevent future incidents and fires. The department told Local 4 that it’s working with other cities to better understand how they deal with battery storage.
Putting out EV battery fires has proven to be a challenging task for firefighters in Metro Detroit and around the country, especially as electric vehicles become more common. EV battery fires take hours to put out, and require a massive amount of water due to thermal runoff, a chemical reaction inside the battery. The fires also emanate toxic fumes.
Some fire departments are trying to implement new technology, such as large fire blankets, to put out EV fires more efficiently.
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Factory ZERO, GM’s “first fully dedicated EV assembly plant,” produces the GMC Hummer EV pickup truck and SUV, the Chevy Silverado EV pickup truck, and the Cruise Origin.
You can see footage from the scene at the plant in the video report up above.