Hailey Branson-Potts
A Tesla Model S “spontaneously caught fire” on a Sacramento County freeway final weekend after its battery compartment overheated, authorities stated.
The automobile was touring at “freeway speeds” on Highway 50 in Rancho Cordova on Saturday afternoon when it burst into flames, the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District stated in a tweet.
Before it was ablaze on a roadway, the automobile had no recognized mechanical issues, authorities stated.
Fire crews used jacks to carry the white Tesla earlier than spraying the underside of the automobile and its battery.
“The fire was extinguished with [approximately] 6,000 gallons of water, as the battery cells continued to combust,” the fireplace district tweeted.
Photos and video from the fireplace district present black smoke spewing from the Tesla whereas firefighters spray it down on the aspect of the freeway as site visitors retains flowing.
No accidents have been reported.
In June, the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District extinguished one other flaming Tesla.
That automobile, which had been concerned in an accident, had been parked in a wrecking yard for 3 weeks earlier than it instantly caught on fireplace within the yard.
It took firefighters greater than an hour to extinguish the flames, the fireplace district stated in a tweet.
Crews stored flattening the flames, however they stored reigniting within the battery compartment, the district stated. Eventually, firefighters dug a pit within the wrecking yard, positioned the automobile inside and stuffed the pit with water.
According to a 2016 Model S emergency response information by Tesla, battery fires can take as much as 24 hours to totally cool.
“When a fire is involved, consider the entire vehicle energized and DO NOT TOUCH any part of the vehicle,” the information states.
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