Do not charge EV batteries at home, says fire brigade chief

Mumbai: The new Mumbai Fire Brigade chief, Sanjay Manjrekar, has warned citizens not to charge electric vehicle (EV) batteries at home

Mumbai: The new Mumbai Fire Brigade chief, Sanjay Manjrekar, has warned citizens not to charge electric vehicle (EV) batteries at home. He made the comment on the back of an incident of fire in the city, occurring from charging an EV inside a residence.

Mumbai, India - November 02, 2022: Sanjay Manjrekar, Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), poses for the photos at Byculla Fire Station, in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, November 02, 2022. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

“Citizens should follow guidelines provided by the electrical department of the civic body to charge these batteries. Guidelines on fire safety for EV charging stations or charging points in housing societies will be made available soon,” said Manjrekar, who replaced Hemant Parab on November 1.

On October 28, a flat in Mazgaon was gutted, after a short-circuit occurred when an EV battery was put on charge.

The new fire chief’s focus will be to fill the 910 vacant posts in his department. The fire department has not had fresh recruitments for over two-and-a-half years, primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I want to get the process of filling up such a huge number of vacant posts started immediately. It will be a huge relief to the fire brigade,” said Manjrekar.

Looking at the mushrooming skyscrapers in the city, the fire brigade chief also drove home the fact that builders must not compromise on installing good quality firefighting equipment. “We give NOCs to the skyscrapers only after following proper audit. But builders should not carry out cost cutting measures – fire safety should be a priority of any interior design or decoration,” he said, adding the highrises must have fully-functional evacuation lifts for fire officers at all time – a mandate for all buildings above 70 meters in height.

“Fire chutes are used only for coming down; however, fire officials have to climb the stairs, be it 30th or 40th floor, and they use internally installed firefighting equipment if the lifts are non-functional,” he said.

On the question about whether box grilles (very common in Mumbai) outside windows and balconies of housing societies should be installed, Manjrekar said, “It is the call of the house owners but we strongly recommend that at least one opening be made or a small door in the grille be kept unlocked when people are at home.”