Model 3 fire in Raleigh NC (10/14/2019) — Or maybe it was not the car...

[PearlyP3D]

There was a Model 3 fire here in Raleigh NC early this morning around 3AM. Of course the news had already reported it along the lines of “Tesla catches fire on Western Blvd causing hours-long traffic back-up”.

from the limited video of the incident the car itself didn’t look to be all that damaged visibly. The fire department called in a wrecker to lift the M3 off the ground and were seen spraying the underside with water. No word yet on the cause. It will be interesting to see if this makes national news like any Tesla issues typically do.

here’s a link to the story:
Tesla catches fire on Western Boulevard :: WRAL.com

 

[XLR82XS]

Anyone here?

Tesla catches fire on Western Boulevard :: WRAL.com

 

[PearlyP3D]

Anyone here?

Tesla catches fire on Western Boulevard :: WRAL.com

lol. I posted about this already. I’m actually out near the service center right now in Raleigh. I’m going to go by and see if that car is there. If so I’ll post pics.

 

[XLR82XS]

Ok.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Doesn't appear to have been much of a fire...wonder what was actually burning as it looks to be situated more at the motor than the battery.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Looks to me like debris is hanging down behind the front wheel. Suggests that there was probably some sort of road obstacle that was hit that resulted in battery damage.

The cabin appears to be filled with smoke/steam. Hard to tell.

It's a Performance+.

They do also appear to be inspecting further forward in front of the wheels/motor, later in the video. But the majority of the spraying is being done to the battery area.

At that hour I would guess someone hit an obstacle in the road or high centered on a divider or something (something that did not do serious damage to the wheels).

 

[PearlyP3D]

So I went by and that car isn’t there. There was a white performance that I thought could’ve been it, but I got out and crawled under to see if it had any damage and it didn’t. So I don’t know where it was taken.

 

[PearlyP3D]

Looks to me like debris is hanging down behind the front wheel. Suggests that there was probably some sort of road obstacle that was hit that resulted in battery damage.

The cabin appears to be filled with smoke/steam. Hard to tell.

It's a Performance+.

They do also appear to be inspecting further forward in front of the wheels/motor, later in the video. But the majority of the spraying is being done to the battery area.

At that hour I would guess someone hit an obstacle in the road or high centered on a divider or something (something that did not do serious damage to the wheels).

Yeah I saw that debris hanging down. Almost looked like a coolant hose on an ICE vehicle. Who knows what they hit. I drove down the road this happened and didn’t see any obvious scorched asphalt or tell-tale signs of a vehicle fire. Usually you’d at least see some melted plastic or something. The median on this road is a very low island style median. It’s not something I can see being tall enough to hit the battery pack and peel it open.

 

[Az_Rael]

So I went by and that car isn’t there. There was a white performance that I thought could’ve been it, but I got out and crawled under to see if it had any damage and it didn’t. So I don’t know where it was taken.

Odds are it is an insurance claim right now, so it is in some tow yard lot awaiting appraisal by the adjuster.

 

[SMAlset]

And if the battery is damaged, we've seen that the thermal event doesn't always happen right away, like in the case of the car that was towed and dropped off at a tire place that then caught on fire there (Los Gatos, CA). Wonder if that one was caused by some road debris that also took out the tire and why the car was being towed, or by how the tow truck handled it.

Surprised this car doesn't show any scorching on the body paint.

 

[dmurphy]

Wonder if there was actually a fire at all; maybe they ran something over, busted a hose, some smoke came out (i.e coolant hitting something warm, or maybe A/C refrigerant?) - and they called the fire department out of a (rightful) abundance of caution.

Doesn't look to me like any kind of fire; and even if there was, it wasn't the battery pack! That would be pretty obvious. And spectacular.

 

[MP3Mike]

Doesn't look to me like any kind of fire; and even if there was, it wasn't the battery pack! That would be pretty obvious. And spectacular.

I agree that we aren't seeing much, if any, evidence of a fire. However, we, as far as I know, haven't seen a Model 3 battery fire yet. So we don't know if it would be "spectacular" like it is with the S&X. (That green "goo" in the Model 3 pack may do a very good job of containing/prevent fires in the battery.)

 

[RSL2020]

Yeah this is classic WRAL half-assed reporting. Throw out "Tesla Fire" and place it at the top of the news stories for clicks.

This occurred basically right in front of WRAL's headquarters, I bet they couldn't believe their good fortune, lol.

 

[ewoodrick]

Folks, remember that the sooner we stop making news out of the problem, the sooner the news outlets will do the same.

For me, it's a ho-hum, yet another vehicle fire amongst the average of 30 car fires per hour.

 

[cdnev]

Yes, how many of these do not make North America-wide news...?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/fire-pickup-truck-gm-chevrolet-colorado-1.5314879

 

[MP3Mike]

Yes, how many of these do not make North America-wide news...?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/fire-pickup-truck-gm-chevrolet-colorado-1.5314879

ICE vehicle fires happen so often that they are rarely reported at all, especially out of the region where they happened.

 

[ecarfan]

Wonder if there was actually a fire at all; maybe they ran something over, busted a hose, some smoke came out (i.e coolant hitting something warm, or maybe A/C refrigerant?) - and they called the fire department out of a (rightful) abundance of caution.

Doesn't look to me like any kind of fire; and even if there was, it wasn't the battery pack! That would be pretty obvious. And spectacular.

You may be right. See Tesla Fire In Raleigh Raises Questions About Something Else | CleanTechnica

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Yeah... I don't think it was a battery fire. Probably something over heating and melting wires near the motor.