Nye County adopts new tech to fight lithium-ion battery fires

Nye County has added new battery-fire fighting technology because the danger is no longer theoretical in Pahrump garages, driveways and highways. With lithium-ion packs now common in cellphones, laptops, e-bikes, electric vehicles and stored-power systems, county fire leaders say they need a faster way to stop blazes that can flare back up even after the flames seem out.

Scott Lewis, who serves as Nye County emergency management director and fire chief for Pahrump Valley Fire & Rescue, said the need became urgent after a July 26, 2024 battery-truck crash near Baker, California, shut down northbound Interstate 15 for 43 hours and snared motorists moving through the Southern California-Las Vegas corridor. For a rural county that sits along a critical hazmat route, Lewis said the incident showed how quickly a lithium battery fire can turn into a regional transportation problem.

The county has now deployed F-500 Encapsulator Technology with a mobile unit and tender for those kinds of fires. Lewis and administrative assistant Patrick Lazenby were photographed on April 8, 2026, standing with the equipment that the department is using as part of its response.

Pahrump Valley Fire & Rescue has already seen early results. In September 2024, crews responded to a lithium-battery fire on U.S. Highway 95 after a truck carrying 31,000 pounds of lithium batteries crashed and caught fire. Firefighters used about 5,500 gallons of water along with F-500 to suppress the blaze, and county officials say the incident demonstrated that the new product can help break up the heat and reduce the risk of reignition.

That risk matters because federal fire guidance warns lithium-ion battery incidents can involve thermal runaway, flammable gases, ejection hazards and fires that start again after visible flames are gone. That is the concern for anyone charging an e-bike in the garage, storing tool batteries in the truck bed or parking an electric vehicle at home in Pahrump.

The county’s move also fits a larger corridor-wide response. After the Baker crash, Nevada and California transportation officials met in August 2024 to discuss improving hazmat-crash response along Interstate 15. For Nye County, the new equipment is meant to make the first minutes of a battery fire count more, before a local blaze becomes a road closure, a home loss or a renewed threat hours later.