In the latest incident in which the relatively new technology related to and in support of electric vehicles proved significantly more dangerous and destructive than most expect, a faulty Tesla charger in Texas sparked a massive inferno that set the homeowner’s house ablaze and destroyed not just the car, but the house as well.
Such is what was confirmed in a statement by the city and reports out of the fire response, with a massive garage blaze apparently being sparked by a Tesla charging unit, with the resultant fire then raging and causing extensive damage to the home to which the garage with the Tesla charger was appended.
According to reports that emerged from local media, the fire started at about 12:30 in the afternoon local time, at which point a two-alarm fire was declared and firefighters raced to the scene to deal with the situation. They reportedly had the fire under control by 1:15 pm, potentially indicating an improved ability to deal with electric vehicle fires, though some members of the team had to remain on-scene to watch for hot spots that could reignite.
According to the Lewesville Fire Department, the homeowner reportedly saw “some electrical arcing coming from the charger unit” when she plugged her Tesla vehicle into the home charger. After the arcing, the charger caught fire and the woman raced to remove her Tesla, which could have caused an even worse blaze, from the garage.
She parked the Tesla vehicle safely down the street, and as she did so, the blaze that started with the electric charging station caught and spread. It apparently caught the game room immediately above the garage on fire, and that blaze spread into the home’s attic, explaining the structural damage to the roof that could be seen.
After the fire had finally been put out, aerial footage of the area in which the nearly out-of-control blaze had been raging showed that it had caused extensive damage to the homeowner, including leaving a Lexus completely charred and the house with significant structural damage to the roof and garage area. It is unclear how destructive the internal damage to the home is.
Commenting on the fire incident, spokesman Matt Martucci said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “The fire on Monday, July 21, in Lewisville, Texas, was started by the car charger device in the garage.” Continuing, he explained that the fire not only spread to the aforementioned areas of the house, but caught the Lexus that was parked in the garage on fire.
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Watch the aerial footage here:
Elon’s Grok AI commented on the incident by noting that there are ways to help prevent such incidents and noted that Tesla has not commented on the incident but might do so after the cause of the fire is revealed. Grok said, “The fire in Lewisville, TX, started when a Tesla wall charger ignited shortly after plugging in, spreading to a Lexus and upper floors. Cause is under investigation—likely an electrical fault or installation issue. To prevent: Have chargers installed by certified electricians, use dedicated circuits, inspect regularly for damage, and install smoke detectors in garages. Tesla may provide updates post-probe.”