Electric car catches fire in Riga, one of the first documented cases in Latvia
A 2023 Škoda Enyaq caught fire in a parking lot in Riga, marking one of the first fully electric car fires documented in Latvia. The flames affected the front, but the battery did not ignite.
On Tuesday at approximately 1:15 PM, the State Fire and Rescue Service received a call about a fire in an electric car in a business parking lot in Riga. The vehicle was a 2023 Škoda Enyaq with 52,000 kilometers on the odometer.
According to witness photos and video footage, the flames primarily engulfed the front of the car, where the electronic components are located. The car's traction battery, situated in the floor, did not appear to have ignited – in such a case, the fire would have been significantly more intense.
This is one of the first officially recorded instances of a fully electric car burning completely in Latvia. In neighboring Lithuania, several similar cases have already been reported.
Although electric car fires often attract widespread media coverage, statistics show they occur less frequently than fires in internal combustion engine vehicles. For example, data from Norwegian emergency services indicate that combustion-engine cars catch fire four to five times more often than electric vehicles.
However, electric car fires are more dangerous – battery fires burn at temperatures of 1000–1200°C, compared to 600–800°C for conventional car fires. This requires greater resources and more time for firefighting operations.
