There’s already been plenty of documented instances of Tesla fires and while this one isn’t nearly as terrifying as being trapped in a burning electric vehicle, it’s still pretty bizarre.
A Tesla Model S in California had been brought to a scrap yard after being heavily damaged in a car crash. This week, the Sacramento Fire Department was called to the scene when the car ignited in flames about three weeks after the accident had occurred.
According to KTLA, the fire started in the battery compartment and didn’t appear to have any help from an outside ignition source.
Metro Fire said the battery wouldn’t stop reigniting the fire and that even after firefighters turned over the vehicle with help from scrap yard employees and began spraying water directly into the battery compartment, the blaze still didn’t go out. That’s when crews decided to basically drown the Tesla.
According to the report, a small hole was dug in the dirt and filled with water before the Tesla was shoved into it. Once the batteries were fully submerged in water, they finally stopped being on fire all the dang time.
There were no injuries reported with the incident but firefighters seem to be increasingly realizing that as electric vehicles, not just Teslas, become more commonplace, they will present unique extinguishing challenges. As the Facebook page for firefighters in nearby Rocklin put it, “the future is going to be tricky.”
