Jimmy Patronis warns to park electric vehicles somewhere dry before Idalia lands

Once the storm leaves, the scammers move in, says Jimmy Patronis. Image via @JimmyPatronis/Twitter.

Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis says owners of electric vehicles should park cars away from storm surge areas.

The Panama City Republican urged caution to EV owners as Tropical Storm Idalia threatens Florida’s Gulf coast. He stressed Florida wants to avoid some of the problems Tesla and other EV owners faced after Hurricane Ian last year.

“We saw a number of fires associated with EVs from Hurricane Ian. We know that the saltwater from storm surge can compromise these batteries, causing fires which cannot be easily suppressed,” Patronis said.

“The best fire teams can do is keep water on the battery until the fuel burns out. If you’re evacuating and leaving an EV, or other lithium ion powered devices like scooters or golf carts in your garage, you’re creating a real fire threat for your home, your communities, and first responders. Take this threat seriously. If there’s even a small risk of your EV being impacted by storm surge, move it to higher ground before it’s too late.”

Patronis, whose duties include working as Florida’s Chief Fire Marshal, said he was startled last year to learn so many vehicles caught fire after Hurricane Ian passed.

He visited a site in Collier County, which was primarily impacted by storm surge and flooding from Ian, and saw lines of cars parked away from structures or one another in order to control fire hazards.

One major problem Patronis described was that even after lithium battery fires were extinguished, continued exposure to saltwater caused new ignitions. The State Fire Marshal’s Office said there were 21 fires associated with EVs from Hurricane Ian alone.

Patronis ultimately sent a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calling an assessment of risks provided by electric vehicles in hurricane events.

“I joined North Collier Fire Rescue to assess response activities related to Hurricane Ian and saw with my own eyes an EV continuously ignite, and continually reignite, as fireteams doused the vehicle with tens-of-thousands of gallons of water,” Patronis said then.

“Subsequently, I was informed by the fire department that the vehicle, once again reignited when it was loaded onto the tow truck. Based on my conversations with area firefighters, this is not an isolated incident. As you can appreciate, I am very concerned that we may have a ticking time bomb on our hands.”

He similarly sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg asking for steps to be developed to protect first responders dealing with EV fires after disasters. Patronis’ Office has also worked in the last year to coordinate solutions with EV manufacturers.