For some it is already quite a challenge to drive your car in and out of the parking garage without a scratch, but on Sunday visitors to the Sint Jan parking garage in Den Bosch had nowhere to go. The iron shutters closed because of a false fire alarm and were impossible to open. Are parking garages actually safe?
“The roller shutters in the Bossche parking garage normally have to ensure that a fire does not just spread. They therefore make a garage safer, but they should open when the fire brigade sees that nothing is wrong. This happened due to a malfunction not,” says Marcel Koene of the Netherlands Fire Brigade. Koene has seen many parking garages from the inside in his life to assess their fire safety.
“Garages are inspected once a year, this kind of system as in Den Bosch too. It was a matter of bad luck that it didn’t work.” Fortunately, visitors were able to leave the car park on foot. Safety measures in underground car parks are of vital importance, because fires there are much more dangerous than above ground, says Koene. “There’s a lot of dangerous smoke coming out and the heat has nowhere to go.”
“Electric car is difficult to extinguish.”
The residents of an apartment on the Monseigneur Zwijnsenstraat in Breda also noticed this at the end of 2022. The houses above were severely damaged by smoke and electricity cables and water pipes broke. The residents were unable to return home for months.
It is not recorded how often a fire starts in a parking garage. But it is certain that the arrival of more and more electric cars makes the parking garage a little more sensitive to fire, says Koene. An electric car is also difficult to extinguish. “Because the battery is in a closed casing, it is difficult for the fire brigade to reach it,” says Koene. Even when the fire is out, a hot battery can catch fire again later.
“To extinguish, they are placed in an immersion tank, so that the car can cool down completely. But it is a challenge to get a burning car out of the garage.”
“A sprinkler system is mandatory.”
“Since 10-15 years, not much has really changed in the legislation surrounding building a parking garage, while the cars have changed,” says Koene. “Much more rubber and plastic are used, which are more susceptible to fire.”
That is why Koene and his colleagues wanted a change in the law. And it will come now. On 1 January 2024, parking garages built under homes must have a sprinkler system. “Often such an installation can extinguish the fire and if that fails, for example in an electric car, the situation remains under control.”
It is a step in the right direction, but Koene is not yet satisfied: “This should actually be installed in all parking garages, but that is considered too expensive by municipalities and garage builders,” he says.
“Get yourself to safety first.”
Visitors to the parking garage, especially electric drivers, can also contribute to fire safety, says Koene. “If you’ve hit a bollard, the impact can damage the battery, which can cause it to burn later. So, just to be on the safe side, put your car outside if you’ve hit something.”
And if there is a fire “leave your car and get yourself to safety first.”