Recently a Tesla electric vehicle burst into flames while parked inside of a garage that was flooded during the impact of Hurricane Helene in Florida. Footage shows the vehicle igniting, quickly becoming engulfed in flames as water filled the tight garage space. A series of small explosions appeared to occur underneath the car where the thick clouds of dark smoke began to fill the garage.
After the incident, warnings were issued to other EV owners, urging them to take necessary precautions to prevent their vehicles from combusting. “Electric Vehicles that have been flooded in saltwater can catch fire,” a post from the Pinellas County Government on Facebook read. “If you evacuated and left an electric vehicle or golf cart in your garage or under a building and you are not able to get to it or move it, we want you to let us know.”
The recent EV fire has reignited concerns surrounding the risk of fire hazards with the lithium ion batteries in the vehicles, which are extremely hard to extinguish. In 2022, Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis wrote a letter to the NHTSA requesting guidance on how to mitigate EV fires caused by storm waters.
“The State Fire Marshal’s Office is in need of immediate guidance regarding the response to fires produced by electric vehicles (EVs) that are compromised as a result of lithium batteries corroding from exposure to salt water,” Patronis said. “I joined North Collier Fire Rescue to assess response activities related to Hurricane Ian and saw with my own eyes an EV continuously ignite, and continually reignite, as fireteams doused the vehicle with tens-of-thousands of gallons of water.”
Under the video of the Tesla fire, one person commented, “My friend bought a 2-bedroom unit in a high-rise apartment building. The building has 28 floors and she is on the 12th floor. They have a 3-level underground garage for about 200 cars and medium/small SUVs. Full EV cars and trucks are not allowed in the underground garage and they have to park in a lot behind the building. She thinks it’s unfair, but I guess I need to show her this video?”
“The Fire Department Chronicles dude talked about how incredibly dangerous & difficult these fires are to put out. Fire departments now have to have specialized equipment & extinguishers to put out these battery fires because they’re THAT dangerous & difficult to put out. He said some of these batteries, even when submerged in water, took 30 DAYS to fully extinguish. I feel sorry for this homeowner, they’re not going to have a house after this,” another person pointed out.
Another person weighed in, “Meanwhile, I live in Atlanta Midtown and I have a Chevy Equinox EUV and my garage got flooded. Nothing happened, drove like a champ after the water subsided. Still taking it to the dealership for inspection, but nothing major happened and never lost power. I wouldn’t buy a Tesla if my life depended on it.
Watch the EV fire below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
