Firefighters tried but couldn't save a Tesla owner from dying in the flames. The car was simply too engulfed in flames, they say.
A Tesla owner has died after a fire broke out in his electric car. The local fire department was quickly on the scene, but had difficulty getting the injured person out of the burning vehicle.
"Due to the intensity of the flames, the driver could not be saved," a statement from local police said.
The accident happened on Tuesday, January 28, in the city of Torrance, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.
The Tesla Model Y was driving down Madrona Avenue when it suddenly swerved and hit a pole. Shortly after, the car burst into flames.
According to the LA Times, emergency crews arrived shortly after the accident, but the car was burning so badly that they were unable to get close enough to help the driver, who died at the scene.
The cause of the fire is believed to be the car's lithium-ion battery. In traffic accidents, these batteries can be damaged, which can lead to a so-called thermal runaway, where the temperature and pressure in the battery help create a self-amplifying effect that increases uncontrollably.
Although fires in electric cars are rarer than in cars with combustion engines, as shown by statistics from, among others, the Danish Emergency Management Agency, fires in electric cars often develop more intensively.
The tragic accident has also sparked a debate about the safety of electric cars. Rescue workers and emergency services in particular are calling for action now.
Emergency services and police have called on car brands to develop very specific and clear guidelines for what to do if/when an electric car catches fire.
The American counterpart to the Danish Transport Authority, the US Department of Transportation, has also investigated risks associated with electric cars after collisions.
In this connection, three examples have been looked at from Lake Forest, Mountain View and Hollywood, respectively, where the rapid development of fires from electric cars resulted in deaths.
The purpose of these studies is to develop working methods and tools for emergency personnel when electric cars catch fire and there is a risk to human life and safety.
That said, stories about burning electric cars have started to fill more of the media. Last year, for example, a German couple died in their burning Skoda Enyaq, and back in 2023, a brand new Audi burned down a house in Hirtshals.
Jaguar has had such poor control over the batteries in a number of cars that the car brand has recalled almost 3,000 cars on the American market. However, the Danish importer refuses to do the same, as it does not believe that European cars are affected by the same fault. Read more about it here.
