Tesla Battery Catches Fire Inside Dealership, It's So Hazardous a Hazmat Team Has to Show Up

By Abby Liebing August 4, 2022 at 10:36am

A Tesla dealership in Norwell, Massachusetts, found itself in trouble when a car battery malfunction caused a fire.

Around 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Norwell firefighters responded to a call from the dealership, the Patriot Ledger reported.

According to reports, there were no injuries and damage occurred only in the car that caught fire and the car next to it.

The car was inside the service garage at the time the lithium-ion battery fire began.

Due to the nature of the fire and that it was a lithium battery fire, the Massachusetts Association of Hazmat Technicians arrived to help the firefighters.

The hazmat technicians tweeted about the incident, informing everyone that this was a “Tier 1” situation.

Tier 1 means the situation is hazardous and deals with a suspicious substance, which in this case, was a lithium-ion fire.

@MassDFS District 1 Hazmat responding to assist @norwell_fire with a lithium ion battery fire. Tier 1 Response https://t.co/U9HPslREdM pic.twitter.com/kdrFmdDU0S

— Massachusetts Association of Hazmat Technicians (@MAHMT270) July 29, 2022

Do you think that Tesla needs to find a different battery for power?

After testing, however, the hazmat team determined that there was no hazard to public health from the Tesla fire, the Patriot Ledger reported.

Along with the hazmat team, the Massachussetts’ Department of Environmental Protection was also present and looked into the situation and possible hazards.

“They will require Tesla to have a licensed site professional do more testing to ensure that the runoff from the water used to put out the fire does not present an environmental hazard. Most of the runoff was contained in a large tank on the site,” the Patriot Ledger noted.

Photos and videos that were tweeted from the scene of the fire show just how much water the firefighters had to use to handle the situation.

Fire inside the garage at the Tesla dealership in Norwel. Hazmat response #tesla #norwell #fire #breaking pic.twitter.com/QAgM48cwwA

— Robin Chan (@RChan_mariner) July 29, 2022

PHOTOS: Battery fire at Norwell Tesla Dealership. Fire started while being serviced. No injuries. Damage limited to one vehicle, potentially heat damage to next M/A by Hanover, Hingham, and Rockland; Scituate w/ station coverage. https://t.co/YMaMVWfQry via @WickedLocal pic.twitter.com/4XaH9LGWm1

— Robin Chan (@RChan_mariner) July 29, 2022

This incident in Norwell is not the only problem that Tesla has had with some of its cars recently.

There have been other reported incidents of Tesla fires this summer, the Patriot Ledger reported.

In the Sacramento area in June, a Tesla in a wrecking yard burst into flames and firefighters had to use 4,500 gallons of water to put the fire out since it kept reigniting,

Since Tesla uses lithium-ion batteries, there is a higher risk of fire due to the flammability of lithium.

“However, lithium-ion batteries are extremely sensitive to high temperatures and inherently flammable. These battery packs tend to degrade much faster than they normally would, due to heat. If a lithium-ion battery pack fails, it will burst into flames and can cause widespread damage. This calls for immediate measures and guidelines for battery safety,” ION Energy, which is an advanced battery management and intelligence platform, reported.

For this reason, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued warnings about how to prevent fire from lithium-powered devices and batteries.

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