VIDEO: At the Kenosha Fire Department, fire crews have been training on how to handle electric vehicle fires.
During traditional car fires powered by gasoline, fire crews would put out the fire with water quickly, usually within 2 to 3 minutes.
However, with an electric vehicles, fire crews must take a different approach because electric vehicle fires pose different safety risks compared to gas-powered vehicles.
"We deal with vehicle fires very frequently in Kenosha," said William Swanson
with KFD .
Swanson said putting out EV fires with solely water would take hours, drain resources, and use thousands of gallons of water. That's why identifying quickly whether a vehicle is electric or gas is critical for first responders.
"If that vehicle is not a threat to other building people whatever it may be, we may just let that vehicle burn," said Swanson.