How can a charging carport be without a key "firewall"
2024-08-25
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Original title: Why do electric cars catch fire and burn a large area? Reporters found out in their investigation: (Lead)
How can a charging carport be without a key "firewall" (Topic)
Beijing Daily reporter Zhang Yu and intern Chen Jiexin
Beijing has recently seen a number of electric bicycle shed fires. One thing these fires have in common is that they burn a large area. Often when one vehicle catches fire, more than a dozen vehicles are affected.
Once an electric vehicle catches fire, the fire will spread rapidly. Instead of trying to put out the fire afterwards, a simple and effective method is to "isolate" it in advance, that is, to block the spread of the fire by setting up partitions.
In reality, do charging carports have fireproof walls? The reporter did some research.
on site
Part of the carport has no partition wall
The reporter found that for electric bicycle charging sheds of a certain size, building partition walls is a mandatory requirement. The "Electric Bicycle Parking Fire Design Standard" formulated by Beijing in 2019 requires that parking spaces in electric bicycle parking places should be arranged in groups, with each group no longer than 20 meters, and groups should be separated by partition walls with a height of no less than 1.5 meters, and the fire resistance limit of the partition walls should not be less than 1 hour.
In a residential area in You'anmen Street, Fengtai District, a carport has no partition wall. Photo by Beijing Daily reporter Zhang Yu
How many charging sheds comply with this regulation? "I don't know" "Not sure" ... During the interview, the reporter found that most of the property owners and car owners did not know much about the regulation of "setting up partition walls in charging sheds".
In a high-rise residential community in You'anmen Street, Fengtai District, nearly 400 cars are parked in two charging sheds of similar size. The reporter saw in one of the sheds that there are four rows of charging piles, each row of charging piles is more than 20 meters long, but there is no partition wall between the parking spaces.
For many old residential areas, it is difficult to have a large space to build a carport longer than 20 meters, but does it mean that if it is less than 20 meters, there is no need for a wall? In an old residential area in Chunshu Street, Xicheng District, there are more than a dozen charging carports of various sizes, none of which have walls. In June this year, one of the charging piles about 10 meters long caught fire, burning 14 vehicles, with a loss of nearly 30,000 yuan for the vehicles alone.
Causes
The place is small, who will pay?
Many residents expressed concerns about the consequences of the carport fire. "If a large area is burned, it will be a hassle to compensate for it."
In addition to arson and force majeure, the owner of the first electric bicycle that caught fire is often responsible for compensation. There have been many cases in Beijing where owners have been sued. In some cases, the owner of the "causing vehicle" refuses to pay or cannot afford to pay, some have objections to the investigation results and request a review, and some do not claim the "causing vehicle", resulting in a situation where "there is a vehicle but no owner" and no one to pay.
At this time, the role of the partition wall of the charging shed is obvious. Previously, a charging shed in Changping District caught fire. In addition to the burning electric bicycle, the fire only affected a nearby car because a brick partition wall blocked the spread of the fire.
If partition walls are effective, why are there so few of them?
"When we built the charging shed, the primary purpose was to solve the problem of residents having difficulty charging outdoors. We didn't take care of the auxiliary measures, such as partitions, awnings, and fire-fighting equipment." A property staff member of a residential community explained, "For example, we first need to solve the problem of whether there is food to eat, and then solve the problem of whether the food is good."
Some residential property owners think that setting up a partition wall is a good thing, but the actual conditions do not allow it. "It's good enough to squeeze out space to build a carport! The place is small to begin with, and adding a partition wall will not only occupy the charging position, but also make it inconvenient for residents to push their bikes in and out."
In addition, setting up partition walls also involves issues of people, money, and materials. Who will pay, who will install, and who will provide guidance? Many residential communities are willing but unable to do so.
action
492 carports in Daxing installed partition walls
Is it feasible to add partition walls to the already built charging carports? The reporter learned that Daxing, Miyun and other districts have already started to install partition walls, and they are not bound by the "20-meter" rule, but depend on the actual situation of the carport.
"The street funded it, and after comparing many options, we chose the glass magnesium board. This material is fireproof and waterproof, strong and lightweight, easy to install, and has a long service life..." In a residential area in Daxing District, workers are installing partition walls on the charging carport. Gao Jun, head of the safety department of Xingfeng Street, patted an installed partition wall hard, "It's very strong!"
Four partition walls were installed in a 10-meter-long carport in Xingfeng Street, Daxing District. Photo by Beijing Daily reporter Zhang Yu
The reporter visited Xingfeng Street and found that as long as the space in the charging carport allows, glass magnesium board partition walls are installed, and each partition wall separates 6 or 8 charging ports. Depending on the height and width of the carport, the height of the partition wall is between 1.5 meters and 2 meters, and the width is between 1.2 meters and 2.4 meters. If there is a motor vehicle parking space next to the carport, an additional outer partition wall will be added.
It is reported that Daxing District has installed partition walls for 492 charging carports in 156 communities. "The fire department provides technical guidance to each community and adapts to local conditions. Ordinary clay bricks, cement fiber pressurized board walls, rock wool sandwich color steel plates, etc., as long as the fire resistance limit meets the standard, are all acceptable." said Liu Bingtao, head of the News and Publicity Section of the Daxing District Fire Rescue Detachment.
In Miyun District, in addition to installing partitions for charging sheds, related supporting facilities such as simple sprinklers and fire extinguishing hooks are also being built. The former is connected to the nearest fire pipe or municipal water source to ensure that the water pressure reaches the fire extinguishing effect. The latter is used to pull the electric bicycles out of the parking shed in case of fire, thereby preventing the fire from spreading.
Journalist's Notes
Convenience facilities need to be repaired frequently
Due to the limitations of current conditions, the construction of electric bicycle charging facilities cannot be completed overnight. Nowadays, more and more owners are complying with regulations and charging outdoors, which also puts forward higher requirements for outdoor charging safety. This requires that the built charging facilities be "repaired" in a timely manner, and the previously missing safety measures and facilities be gradually improved, so that residents can charge outdoors without worries.
Source: Beijing Daily
