BNSF, CPKC educate first responders in EV hazard mitigation

BNSF Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City recently trained 40 first responders in North Dakota on how to respond to lithium battery fires on autorack rail cars and intermodal containers.

Participants learned how to isolate and evaluate the safety of damaged electric vehicles (EVs) and lithium-ion batteries, BNSF officials said in a post on X.com.

“The volume of EV vehicles in rail transportation has increased exponentially in the last few years and this training was a great opportunity to bring EV hazard mitigation techniques to local firefighters,” said Paul Hester, BNSF manager of hazardous materials field operations and emergency response.