EV Fire Safety in Parking Garages: Where Do Fire Blankets Fit?

Electric vehicles are becoming a familiar sight in underground parking garages, multi-storey car parks and commercial parking facilities. As charging infrastructure expands, building owners and parking operators face an important question: how should electric vehicles be incorporated into an effective fire safety strategy?

The answer involves much more than selecting firefighting equipment. Building design, early detection, evacuation, smoke management, automatic fire protection and emergency access all play essential roles.

EV fire limitation blankets are increasingly discussed as an additional safety measure. But where do they fit into the overall strategy, and what should parking garage operators consider before introducing them?

1. Understanding EV Fire Risks in Parking Garages

Electric vehicles introduce some specific fire safety challenges, but this does not mean they are necessarily more likely to catch fire than conventional vehicles.

The European Commission's 2025 guidance on electric vehicles in covered parking spaces notes that available data indicate a lower fire risk for battery electric vehicles than for internal combustion engine vehicles. However, lithium-ion batteries can introduce different fire development and firefighting challenges.

These may include prolonged heat generation, thermal runaway, hazardous gas emissions and the possibility of renewed fire activity after visible flames have been controlled.

For parking garage operators, the important distinction is therefore not simply how frequently vehicle fires occur, but how a fire could develop within a particular building and how effectively it can be managed.

2. Why Covered Parking Facilities Require Special Attention

A vehicle fire in an open parking area is fundamentally different from a fire inside an underground or enclosed parking garage.

Several characteristics can make emergency operations more difficult:

• Restricted ventilation: Smoke and hazardous combustion products may accumulate, reducing visibility and complicating evacuation and firefighting.
• Limited access: Narrow driving lanes, low ceilings and closely parked vehicles can restrict access for firefighters and their equipment.
• Fire spread: Heat and flames may threaten neighbouring vehicles, building services and structural elements.
• Complex evacuation: Parking facilities may be connected to residential buildings, offices, shopping centres or other occupied spaces.
• Charging infrastructure: Electrical installations introduce additional considerations for isolation, maintenance and emergency procedures.

These conditions make a coordinated fire safety approach particularly important. Equipment that is useful in an open training environment may be much more difficult to deploy safely in a smoke-filled parking garage.

3. Fire Safety Starts Before a Fire Occurs

Effective fire safety depends first on prevention and preparation.

For parking facilities accommodating electric vehicles, important measures may include:

• Appropriate design, installation, inspection and maintenance of EV charging equipment.
• Suitable fire detection and alarm systems.
• Clearly identified evacuation routes and emergency procedures.
• Fire compartmentation and protection of critical building elements.
• Smoke management and ventilation strategies appropriate to the building.
• Automatic fire suppression systems where required or justified by the fire safety assessment.
• Reliable access and suitable water supplies for emergency responders.

These measures should be evaluated together rather than as isolated solutions.

The European Commission's guidance addresses prevention, detection, evacuation, fire propagation control and firefighting as interconnected elements of covered parking safety.

4. The Role of Sprinklers, Water and Firefighting Access

Automatic sprinkler systems and other water-based fire protection measures can play an important role in controlling fire development and limiting its consequences.

Water is also essential in many EV battery fire responses because effective cooling may be necessary to control heat generated by a battery undergoing thermal runaway.

However, the presence of a sprinkler system does not automatically mean that a battery fire can be completely extinguished. The effectiveness of any system depends on its design, the incident conditions and the location of the burning components.

Firefighters may still require prolonged cooling, monitoring and access to the affected vehicle.

For this reason, an EV fire blanket should never be considered a substitute for adequate water supplies, automatic fire protection or professional firefighting procedures.

5. Where Can EV Fire Limitation Blankets Help?

An EV fire limitation blanket is designed to cover a vehicle and restrict the spread of flames and radiant heat to its surroundings.

In a parking facility, this capability may be relevant when a vehicle fire threatens adjacent vehicles or nearby property.

Potential applications include:

• Limiting flame exposure: Reducing direct flame spread from the affected vehicle to neighbouring objects.
• Reducing radiant heat exposure: Helping to limit heat transfer towards adjacent vehicles or equipment.
• Supporting incident containment: Providing an additional fire limitation measure within a professionally developed emergency response procedure.
• Protecting surrounding property: Potentially reducing secondary fire damage when the blanket can be deployed safely and effectively.

These are potential functions, not guarantees of performance in every parking garage incident. The actual benefit depends on the blanket's construction, tested performance, correct deployment and incident conditions.

The DVM International 6 × 8 m EV Fire Limitation Blanket has been developed for professional vehicle fire limitation applications, with independent full-blanket testing forming an important part of its technical evaluation.

6. The Practical Challenge: Can a Blanket Be Deployed Safely?

One of the most important questions for parking garage operators is also one of the most practical: can responders actually place a large fire limitation blanket over the vehicle?

In a real emergency, deployment may be complicated by:

• Vehicles parked closely together.
• Walls, pillars and structural obstructions.
• Low ceiling heights and limited working space.
• Restricted visibility caused by smoke.
• Intense heat or rapidly developing fire conditions.
• Uncertainty about the battery condition and possible escalation.

A blanket that can be deployed successfully around an isolated vehicle in an outdoor exercise may not be suitable for deployment in every enclosed parking space.

Its use should therefore be evaluated in advance by competent fire safety professionals and the relevant emergency response organisation.

Parking staff or members of the public should not be expected to approach a burning electric vehicle to deploy a blanket. Such operations require appropriate training, protective equipment, incident assessment and professional control.

7. What Fire Blankets Cannot Solve

EV fire limitation blankets have important limitations that must be understood before they are included in an emergency plan.

A blanket does not directly cool the lithium-ion battery and cannot be assumed to stop thermal runaway inside battery cells.

Furthermore, covering a vehicle does not eliminate the production of hazardous or flammable battery gases. These gases may accumulate or escape into the surrounding environment, creating additional hazards in enclosed spaces.

Depending on the circumstances, the presence of flammable gases can introduce a deflagration or explosion risk. A fire limitation blanket must not be treated as explosion protection.

Blanket deployment, subsequent monitoring and eventual removal therefore require a carefully assessed operational procedure. There is no universally safe waiting period that can be applied to every incident.

For a more detailed examination of these specific hazards, see our article EV Fire Blankets and the Risk of Battery Gas Explosions.

8. What Does DIN 91489-1 Mean for Parking Garage Operators?

DIN 91489-1:2026-11 provides technical requirements and test methods for fire limitation blankets intended for use with vehicles.

The standard helps establish a more consistent basis for evaluating blanket characteristics and performance. It also addresses important safety information and manufacturer instructions.

However, compliance with a product standard should not be confused with approval for unrestricted use in a particular parking garage.

DIN 91489-1 does not replace a building-specific fire risk assessment, and it does not establish that deploying a blanket is safe under every enclosed-space condition.

Parking operators should distinguish between three separate questions:

• Product performance: What has the blanket demonstrated under defined test conditions?
• Operational suitability: Can it be deployed and managed safely in the intended environment?
• Building fire safety: How does its use interact with existing detection, suppression, ventilation and emergency response arrangements?

All three questions matter when evaluating a professional EV fire limitation blanket for parking facilities.

9. Integrating Fire Blankets into a Parking Garage Fire Safety Plan

Where a fire limitation blanket is being considered, the decision should be part of a broader fire safety assessment rather than a standalone purchasing decision.

A practical evaluation should consider:

• Building characteristics: Is the facility underground, partially enclosed or naturally ventilated?
• Vehicle accessibility: Is there sufficient space to approach and cover an affected vehicle?
• Existing fire protection: Which detection, sprinkler, smoke control and emergency systems are installed?
• Emergency responsibilities: Who would be authorised and trained to deploy the blanket?
• Fire service coordination: Has the proposed procedure been reviewed with the relevant emergency responders?
• Equipment storage: Where can the blanket be stored so that it remains accessible without exposing personnel to unnecessary danger?
• Post-deployment procedures: How will the vehicle be monitored, cooled and subsequently managed?

Not every parking garage will benefit from keeping an EV fire limitation blanket on site. In some buildings, the practical restrictions and operational risks may outweigh the potential advantages.

In others, a blanket may be considered as a supplementary tool within a professionally managed response strategy.

The correct decision depends on the specific facility, its fire safety provisions and the capabilities of the responding fire service.

10. European Guidance Supports an Integrated Approach

Several European publications provide useful guidance for building owners and parking operators.

The European Commission's 2025 guidance addresses electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in covered parking spaces, considering prevention, detection, evacuation, fire propagation and firefighting.

In Germany, VDI-EE 5950 Blatt 2 provides recommendations on fire protection in parking and charging areas for electric vehicles, covering both new and existing facilities.

The United Kingdom has also published fire safety guidance for electric vehicles in covered car parks, intended for operators, designers, owners and fire risk assessors.

Although these publications differ in scope and status, they reinforce the importance of assessing the entire parking facility rather than relying on a single piece of firefighting equipment.

11. The DVM International Approach

At DVM International, we regard EV fire limitation blankets as specialised equipment for limiting the consequences of vehicle fires, not as a universal solution for lithium-ion battery incidents.

Our development approach places particular emphasis on relevant technical standards, independent testing and clear communication about product capabilities and limitations.

The DVM-FLB-6×8 is a 6 × 8 metre fire limitation blanket intended for professional applications. Its suitability for a particular parking facility must be assessed in the context of the building, the incident response plan and verified product performance.

For product information and the current status of technical documentation, visit the DVM-FLB-6×8 product page.

Conclusion: An Additional Tool, Not a Complete Fire Safety Strategy

Electric vehicle fire safety in parking garages is primarily a question of building safety, emergency planning and effective firefighting arrangements.

EV fire limitation blankets may offer an additional means of restricting flames and heat exposure in certain situations. However, they do not replace automatic fire protection, smoke management, evacuation measures, battery cooling or professional emergency response.

Their potential value must always be weighed against the practical difficulties and hazards of deployment in an enclosed environment.

The most effective approach is not to rely on one product, but to combine appropriate building protection measures with realistic, well-coordinated emergency procedures.

References and Further Reading

• European Commission (2025). Guidance of Fire Safety for Electric Vehicles Parked and Charging Infrastructure in Covered Parking Spaces.
• VDI (2023). VDI-EE 5950 Blatt 2 – Electromobility: Fire Protection in Parking and Charging Areas for Electric Vehicles.
• UK Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (2023; updated 2024). Covered Car Parks: Fire Safety Guidance for Electric Vehicles.
• DIN 91489-1:2026-11. Fire limitation blankets for vehicles – Requirements and test methods.

Important: This article provides general technical information. It is not a substitute for a building-specific fire risk assessment, applicable regulations or instructions from competent emergency response authorities.