Firefighters from the Morris Twp Fire Company were called on Tuesday morning (November 15) to help put out an automobile fire on Interstate 80 in central Pennsylvania (USA). Other firefighters were already at the scene, but when the reinforcements reached the burning vehicle, which was a Tesla Model S, it was quickly discovered that it was not a typical car fire.
In a short time, the firefighters used over 15,000 of them. liters of water (4 thousand gallons), but this amount was not enough. The lithium ion battery in the Tesla Model S kept igniting and at times the fire was extremely intense. This forced the firefighters to bring in more tankers.
In total, the entire action lasted two hours and over 45,000 were used. liters of water (12,000 gallons). To get an idea of how difficult it is to put out an electric car, firefighters have reported that it usually takes less than 2,000 to put out a burning vehicle. liters of water (500 gallons) or even less.
As the firefighters noted, if it weren’t for the rims, it would be hard to tell the remaining remains were once a car. Carscoops.com adds that, according to information provided by one of the Tesla passengers, the fire occurred when an object struck the vehicle’s chassis. When smoke started billowing from the car, the driver quickly pulled to the side of the road, and the three people in the Tesla Model S and the dog got out of the vehicle safely.
