Firefighters responded to a Tesla fire in Bethalto, Illinois on Sunday, forcing crews to shut down the highway for nearly three hours as they attempted to prevent hazardous materials from leading to further problems, according to reports.
The Alton Telegraph in Alton, Illinois reported that on Sunday, a Tesla was heading northbound on Route 255 in Bethalto when it caught fire at about noon and had to pull over near Airline Drive.
The people inside the vehicle escaped safely and crews from the Bethalto Fire Department responded to the scene.
Upon arrival, the publication reported, firefighters discovered the lithium-ion battery was on fire underneath the electric vehicle.
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With a need for more water to fight the flames, the fire department requested assistance from the Rosewood Heights and Meadowbrook fire departments. The department also asked for a tanker truck as well as the Madison County Hazmat Team to respond to the scene.
The publication reported that officials at the scene said the car was in motion when it caught fire, adding that the battery reached what is known as "thermal runaway," or a state in which energy released from the fire increases the temperature output.
In August 2023, Verisk Analytics, Inc., which reports on data analytics and risk assessment, reported that electric vehicles may not catch fire as often as vehicles with combustion engines, but EV battery fires can burn up to 1,000 degrees hotter than a combustion engine fire.
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"This means that if an EV catches fire, it can pose a greater risk to other objects around it – like other EVs or cars in a parking garage, or a nearby building," Verisk wrote.
The company also said EV fires can be reignited within minutes, hours, days or even weeks from when the initial fire was extinguished.
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But among those problems, Verisk also reported that EV battery fires can leak toxic chemicals and fumes into the surrounding environment through the air or by way of water runoff.
Fire departments across the U.S. are relatively new to the challenges imposed by EV battery fires.
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Crews were able to reopen the northbound lanes of Illinois Route 255 nearly three hours after the car was removed from the scene and taken to a parking lot, the publication reported.
