A hybrid electric truck caught fire twice in Allentown on Wednesday afternoon. The small, but smoky fires warped the front of its 24-foot-long box enclosure, but no one was hurt.Wow, talk about a lot of energy in responding and securing, and it appears the story is still not over. The technicians had yet to arrive.
City firefighters let the truck's 24 lithium ion batteries smolder while Zero Truck Corp., the 905 Harrison St. company that owns the truck, called for technicians to remove the batteries safely.
"That's 400 volts," said fire Battalion Chief Scott Henrick. "We're not touching that."
The technicians did not arrive Wednesday, but the truck was moved to a secure lot behind the Zero Truck building. Henrick said company officials hope to have the experts look at the truck Thursday morning.
Maybe it's just me, but for the very few coal-powered vehicles that are out there (in comparison to "conventional" vehicles) it sure seems like there are a lot of fires.
