A routine car fire call in Upper Allen, Pa., turned into a complex firefighting operation when crews discovered the fire involved a Tesla at an electric vehicle charging station. [emphasis, links added]
A massive response from multiple fire departments, including hazardous materials teams, was required to safely extinguish the blaze.
CBS 21 reports that the Upper Allen Fire Department responded to what was initially reported as a standard car fire at a local Sheetz convenience store on Monday night.
Upon arrival, however, firefighters quickly realized they were dealing with a more challenging situation: A Tesla electric car caught fire at a charging station.
A viewer shared this video of a car catching fire at the Sheetz electric vehicle charging station on South Market Street in Upper Allentown.
Some barriers to EV appeal: https://t.co/DGUXmx7K7O pic.twitter.com/NSpxfBItUi
— WPMT FOX43 (@fox43) July 9, 2024
Unlike traditional gasoline-powered cars, Electric vehicles contain large lithium-ion battery packs that can reignite even after the initial fire appears to be extinguished.
This feature requires firefighters to adopt specialized strategies and often increases the time required to fully secure a scene.
Crews from the Upper Allen Fire Department and nearby departments arrived and immediately began battling the flames.
Their initial efforts focused on containing the visible fire, but the real challenge came after the main fire was extinguished.
Firefighters then had to address issues with the car's battery, which could pose an ongoing risk of renewed fires. To mitigate this danger, they used specialized technology to cool and extinguish the battery pack.
As celebrity car enthusiast Jeremy Clarkson explained in 2023, one of the reasons electric car fires are so dangerous is the “thermal runaway” that occurs within lithium-ion batteries:
Clarkson also pointed out the difficulty of extinguishing fires in electric vehicles, citing an incident in which an electric vehicle burned for several days due to “thermal runaway” in the battery pack.
“Richard Hammond's electric car rolled down a hill while filming The Grand Tour burned for several days. Then, after the fire was extinguished, something called “thermal runaway” in the battery pack caused it to rise again. This went on for a few weeks,” Clarkson explained.
Multiple agencies responded to assist the Upper Allen Fire Department, bringing additional equipment and expertise to the scene.
This collaborative effort underscores the importance of interagency cooperation and specialized training in addressing emerging technologies in fire protection.
After the fire was under control and the battery was sufficiently cooled, the Tesla was towed away from the scene, but the firefighters' work was far from over.
Crews remain on site to monitor for any potentially hazardous material releases, runoff from firefighting efforts, and the potential for the fire to reignite, a known risk of lithium-ion battery fires.
In a statement released after the incident, the Upper Allen Fire Department thanked aid agencies and acknowledged the difficulties that come with such fires.
Read Breitbart's “Break”
