Hybrid car catches fire in Surprise home's garage

SURPRISE, Ariz. - Everyone inside a burning house near Dysart and Greenway roads in Surprise got out safely on Tuesday night.

The response was massive because, inside the garage, a hybrid vehicle was on fire.

How it started is unclear, but regardless, fire crews took a defensive approach to contain the flames and soaked the car in tens of thousands of gallons of water.

Then, they used a tool for the first time for their department. A fire blanket. They draped it over the car, eliminating the oxygen and suffocating the flames.

The response to these types of car fires has changed a lot in the last two years. The blanket is the latest technique, but Surprise Fire says that could change soon.

"Next week it could be something new entirely. We could get new data that comes out. So, this is an evolving process, but that’s our career field. We continue to evolve in how we fight fires and the types of fires we’re going to fight. That’s part of the craft, why we call it a professional trade, because it’s our responsibility to keep the public safe and continue to find new ways to fight these fires," Battalion Chief Larry Subervi with the city of Surprise Fire & Medical Department said.

Hazmat teams from Surprise, Phoenix and Glendale responded to the fire due to its nature.

"Air monitoring continued in the area to ensure that none of the additional hazards associated with EV were present," the fire department said.

Although the car wasn't a full EV, fire officials say the challenges are the same.

"They both use a lot of water, so we know it’s going to be a long water fight, using tens of thousands of gallons of water on top of these fires versus a traditional combustion engine," Subervi said.

'I don’t think we’re done in the learning phase'

He says because a battery was burning, they took every precaution with air toxicity issues, water demands, and calling in resources across the Valley.

"To be on the safe side, we’d rather get those resources coming to the community and know we don’t need them than start them late," he said.

Phoenix Fire’s Capt. Rob McDade says his crew learned a lot in this fire.

"Last night's incident will go a long way in building this card catalog for us to look at every fire. Now, when we do the training, ‘Hey, this is what Mesa had, this is what Gilbert did, this is what Phoenix did, and now this is what Surprise did.’ If we're not sharing this information, we’re not working hard enough," McDade said.

It’s a welcome change from the last strategy we saw implemented as a Waymo electric vehicle caught fire in Phoenix. It had to be submerged in wet sand.

"That as a technique, where we’re going to get giant dumpsters, put cars in them, and fill them with thousands of pounds of sand, is it necessarily something that’s sustainable? It was working at the time a couple of years ago, so we just had to evolve some of those techniques. I don’t think we’re done in the learning phase for how to best fight electric vehicle (fires), and we’re not alone. It’s across the country," Subervi said.

Surprise Fire complimented the homeowner because she informed dispatch she had a hybrid vehicle in the garage. That helped them prepare as crews arrived.

How the fire started is still being investigated.