Shortly after hitting the streets, a new Tesla Model S Plaid has mysteriously caught fire. Brought to our attention via Electrek, the top-of-the-line Tesla sedan was engulfed in flames in the affluent Philadelphia suburb of Haverford Tuesday evening. The official cause of the fire is unknown but the Gladwyne Volunteer Fire Company recounted their involvement in the incident on Facebook.
Two engines from Gladwyne arrived to assist Merion Station 25 and spent 90 minutes extinguishing the fire and cooling the batteries down. The whole ordeal reportedly lasted three hours and did not result in any injuries. Based on the wheels and front bumper still visible in the aftermath, this appears to be the new Plaid version of the Tesla Model S that comes close to 200 miles per hour and can hit 60 mph in less than two seconds.
“Engine 24 with a crew of 7 arrived on scene simultaneously with Engine 25,” the fire crew posted. “Due to prior training classes on Tesla Vehicle Fire emergencies, Engine 24 laid a 5 inch supply line into the scene so that we could keep a continual water stream on the fire to extinguish the fire and cool the batteries down to ensure complete extinguishment. Engine 24 and Engine 25 both deployed hand lines to extinguish the fire, each maintained a dedicated water source and continued to cool the vehicle down for almost 90 minutes.”
“Firefighters were on scene for just over 3 hours dealing with this emergency,” the team continued. “Nobody was hurt in the incident and both crews worked hard in the high heat/humidity to mitigate the incident.”
This is far from the first time a Tesla (or, to be fair, any car, electric or otherwise) has caught fire. The plot behind this one has thickened, though, after Electrek spotted a Reddit user who claims to be one of the Narberth Ambulance EMTs who was called to provide rehab on this exact incident. They posted this in the comments:
As of Thursday afternoon, authorities still haven’t identified the vehicle’s owner or a cause for the fire.
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