“If you think the accident was a long time ago, there’s still a fire in a Tesla,” is how one could summarize a fire that has kept the fire department in Sacramento, California, in suspense. A Model S suddenly caught fire in a junkyard – three weeks after an accident.
The Tesla was so badly damaged in the crash that it could only be taken away for recycling. It hadn’t burned, but apparently the battery had been damaged. After the car had been waiting in the junkyard for three weeks to be recycled, the battery suddenly caught fire. Probably as a result of overheating (thermal runaway). The fire brigade rushed to extinguish the fire, but initially failed because the battery kept igniting. Even when the Florianis turned the wreck on its side to get better access to the battery, that didn’t get them much further. The saving idea involved an excavator. Together with the junkyard staff, they dug a pit, dumped the burning car in it and flooded the whole thing with water to effectively cool the battery. Electric cars catch fire relatively rarely compared to combustion engines, but when they do, putting it out is a real challenge.
source site-13