Firefighters extinguish Tesla fire on I-80 with 50,000 gallons of water

Firefighters used 50,000 gallons of water to extinguish a blaze after a Tesla employee driving a 2024 Tesla semi-truck crashed the truck on a California highway last month and the vehicle caught fire.

The findings were part of a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Thursday. The thousands of gallons of water were used to “extinguish the flames and cool the vehicle's batteries,” the report said.

The fire broke out at about 3:13 p.m. on August 19 on Interstate 80 in Emigrant Gap, California, about 70 miles northwest of South Lake Tahoe, the NTSB said in its report.

The fire accident, which also released toxic fumes and prompted forestry authorities to apply fire retardants in the area, is the latest case of a Tesla electric vehicle fire that required large amounts of water to extinguish.

In August 2021, firefighters trying to extinguish a fire in Austin, Texas, following a Tesla crash used 40 times the amount of water normally needed for fires involving gasoline-powered vehicles, according to The Hill.

And in December 2023, firefighters in Alabama used over 36,000 gallons of water to extinguish a fire involving a Tesla, Carscoops reported. That's about 36 times as much water as used in fires involving oil-powered vehicles.

What happened in the crash?

A Tesla employee crashed his 2024 Tesla Semi, a battery-powered semi-trailer truck, on I-80 eastbound. The driver was on his way to a Tesla factory in Sparks, Nevada.

The driver left the road while turning and driving uphill. The Tesla struck a traffic guardrail mounted on a steel post, hit a tree about 12 inches thick and continued to speed down a slope until it came to a stop against several trees, the NTSB said.

“The vehicle’s lithium-ion battery system ignited after the vehicle left the roadway, resulting in a post-impact fire,” the agency concluded.

The Tesla employee who was driving the vehicle was not injured.

Tesla vehicle did not reignite during 24-hour observation period

The California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the California Department of Transportation arrived on scene to assist, the NTSB's preliminary report said.

The accident released toxic fumes into the air, posing an inhalation hazard, and traffic on I-80 was diverted while emergency crews used about 50,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire and cool the truck's batteries.

Tesla also sent a technical expert to the scene to assist in assessing high-voltage hazards and fire safety.

Rescue crews also measured air quality and used a thermal scanner to monitor the temperature of the batteries. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection also deployed an aircraft to apply fire retardant to the area “as a precautionary measure,” the NTSB said.

The westbound and eastbound lanes of I-80 were closed for 14 to 15 hours so firefighters could ensure the batteries were at a safe temperature for recovery operations and to prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding wooded areas.

The tractor was taken to an open area and monitored for 24 hours. During the observation period, neither the truck nor its battery system ignited again.

“All aspects of the accident remain under investigation as the NTSB determines the probable cause of the accident with the intent of issuing safety recommendations to prevent similar incidents,” the NTSB wrote. “Although the Tesla Semi was equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), ADAS was not operational in the vehicle and could not be activated at the time of the accident.”

Contributor: Julia Gomez, USA TODAY

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at [email protected].

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