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Follow TURFTesla battery fire takes 6,000 gallons of water to extinguish
Tesla car battery 'spontaneously' bursts into flames on California highway, firefighters need 6,000 gallons to put it out
By Carlos Garcia
The Blaze
January 30, 2023
Sacramento fire officials said that it took 6,000 gallons to put out a fire caused by Tesla car batteries that had "spontaneously" burst into flames.
The official Twitter account for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District issued a series of tweets documenting the incident near Rancho Cordova in California on Saturday.
"Crews arrived to a Tesla Model S engulfed in flames, nothing unusual prior. 2 Fire Engines, a water tender, and a ladder truck were requested to assist," the department tweeted with four photographs.
"Crews used jacks to access the underside to extinguish and cool the battery. Thousands of gallons were used in extinguishment," they added.
They went on to say that the battery cells continued to combust as firefighters attempted to put out the fire.
"Thankfully no injuries were reported," they said.
When they were challenged as to whether they always report information about all car fires or only for Teslas, the department responded.
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"Great question! We report anything that would be of interest to the public. EV and lithium power is still fairly new technology, and proving much more challenging to extinguish," they tweeted.
"For reference- 6,000 gallons of water is far more than we generally use on a house fire," they added.
In August, California regulators issued an order commanding that all cars, trucks, and SUVs bought or sold after 2035 be required to run on electricity.
Tesla's stock has lost over 59% of its value since it hit a high of $407 per share in August 2021. Critics say some investors have abandoned the company over concerns that CEO Elon Musk has been distracted by his acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion.