You can see fire starting at the undercarriage of a Tesla in a video shared this week by the Pinellas County Government Facebook page. Then, the flames spread to the wheel-wells and licked up sides of the car, leaving the white-painted doors black near the bottom.
As the fire grew, the garage filled with smoke.
This same footage was shared with WFTV 9. According to the outlet, the incident happened in the Sarasota home of Morgan and Lisa Hodges.
“The Hodges family said their Tesla Model X Plaid burst into flames after sitting in 6 to 8 inches of water inside the home’s garage,” while Helene rolled into Florida WFTV 9 said. At the time it went up in flames, the vehicle was not plugged in, according to the family.
While nine people were able to escape the home, it eventually burned down.
Authorities in the Florida county have warned residents about risks associated with electric cars getting wet as the state recovers from Hurricane Helene. Audacy reported that local officials urged people to move their cars to dry areas.
“If you have an electric vehicle or golf cart and it was exposed to salt water, it needs to be moved away from your home by at least 50 feet. These vehicles may catch fire in the coming days,” said officials in Pinellas County. That county covers cities on the west central coast including St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Dunedin.
Electric cars are particularly dangerous in salt water because most run on lithium-ion batteries. Lithium is highly reactive with water. Saltwater can also trigger a spontaneous combustion since it can cause the batteries to short circuit.
Cars, bikes and scooters that rely on these batteries all present a fire risk. Vehicles can also be towed for inspection.
Tesla vehicles have also caught fire before. Audacy has reported on multiple fire incidents involving the vehicles, including one in 2022, one last January on a California freeway and one that resulted in a California home burning down.