A Tesla Model S “spontaneously” caught fire on a California highway over the weekend, forcing firefighters to use some 6,000 gallons of water to extinguish the flames, authorities said.
Sacramento Metro Fire reported that the electric vehicle burst into flames after 4 p.m. Saturday while traveling eastbound at freeway speeds on Highway 50 in the area of Rancho Cordova.
According to officials, “nothing unusual” happened before the Tesla’s battery compartment “spontaneously caught fire.”
Two fire engines, a water tender and a ladder truck were called to assist during the fiery incident, which shut down two lanes of traffic.
Responding fire crews used jacks to access the underside of the car and put out the flames and cool the battery — a process that ended up requiring 6,000 gallons of water because the lithium-ion battery cells continued to combust.
Firefighters had to use 6,000 gallons of water to extinguish the battery fire, resulting in the closing of two traffic lanes Saturday.Twitter/Metro Fire of Sacramento
Jacks had to be used to raise the burning car so firefighters could access its underside.Twitter/Metro Fire of Sacramento
Video tweeted by the fire department showed firefighters hosing down the burning sedan as other vehicles drive by.
No injuries were reported as a result of the inferno, but the Tesla sustained catastrophic damage.
In June 2022, a Tesla Model S “spontaneously” caught fire at a junkyard in Rancho Cordova, California, where it had been sitting for three weeks after being wrecked in a collision.
Following repeated attempts to put out the flames, fire crews were forced to dig a small pit, fill it with water and submerge the burning car in it to extinguish the battery fire. Some 4,500 gallons of water was used in that instance.
No injuries were reported, but the Tesla sustained catastrophic damage.Twitter/Metro Fire of Sacramento
A Tesla Model S on Highway 50 in Rancho Cordova, California, after its battery “spontaneously” ignited.Twitter/Metro Fire of Sacramento
In November, firefighters in Pennsylvania had to use 12,000 gallons of water to extinguish a brand-new Tesla Model S that had burst into flames after driving over a large piece of debris on a highway.
The owners of the doomed electric vehicle and their pet dog escaped unharmed.
The local fire department later wrote on Facebook that the Tesla burned “so hot and long that if it was not for the rims you might not even know it was a vehicle.”
The incident near Sacramento Saturday comes just days after Tesla posted a record fourth-quarter income of $3.69 billion.
Source: nypost.com
