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Fire chief warns commissioners that lithium battery fires can overwhelm local resources
Summary
Caroline County Fire & EMS Chief Loftus told the Planning Commission that lithium-ion phosphate storage fires are difficult to extinguish, that local tanker capacity is small compared with potential needs, and that the county lacks a local fire marshal to oversee post-construction inspections.
Chief Loftus told the Commission that energy-storage facilities present multiple hazards that local emergency services must plan for. He listed four risk categories — "fire, explosion, toxic plume, and environmental impact" — and said the county currently operates five tankers (1,500–3,000 gallons each) while a single container fire could "require upward of 20,000 gallons" of water. Loftus described lithium-ion phosphate chemistry as prone to sustained self-oxidation and said containment and cooling are the primary firefighting strategies.
Loftus also explained why NFPA 855 was written into the draft ordinance: because Virginia's building code has not yet adopted it, putting the standard into local ordinance allows the county building official to enforce it. He noted Caroline County has no local fire marshal and suggested the Board of Supervisors consider hiring a part-time fire marshal to handle periodic inspections and oversight as commercial development grows.
