NTSB investigating Tesla Semi crash, fire that shut down I-80 for hours in Placer County
- by kcra.com
- Aug 21, 2024
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Updated: 8:32 PM PDT Aug 21, 2024
WE BEGIN WITH BREAKING NEWS. BREAKING NEWS. WE’RE FOLLOWING. A TESLA SEMI TRUCK CRASHING. AND CATCHING FIRE ALONG INTERSTATE 80. THE FIRE CAUSING ROAD CLOSURES AND TRAFFIC BACKUPS FOR HOURS TODAY. WESTBOUND TRAFFIC OPENING BACK UP JUST WITHIN THE PAST HOUR. CREWS HAVE BEEN OUT THERE WORKING TO MAKE SURE THE FIRE DID NOT SPREAD. SO LIVECOPTER3 CAPTURING THESE EXCLUSIVE IMAGES YOU’LL ONLY SEE ON KCRA THREE DURING OUR NOON HOUR. CREWS SAY BATTERIES FROM ELECTRIC SEMI TRUCKS HAVE TO BE 100 DEGREES BEFORE THEY CAN BE SAFELY REMOVED. ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF AGO, THEY WERE STILL AT 500 DEGREES, BUT THE TEMPERATURES ARE DROPPING. THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS. WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR JOINING US HERE AT FIVE. I’M ANDREA FLORES. AND I’M TY STEELE. IT’S ALL QUITE THE PROCESS. THIS IS ALL HAPPENING ON INTERSTATE 80 NEAR NYACK, KCRA 3’S MICHELLE BANDUR HAS SPOKEN WITH STUCK DRIVERS. THEY ARE WAITING FOR THIS TO ALL FINALLY GET CLEARED OUT. WE ARE HAVING SOME PROGRESS ON THIS FRONT. RIGHT, MICHELLE? YEAH. TY WE JUST RECEIVED THE LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT THE FIRE. THAT BATTERY FIRE. CAL FIRE TELLS US THAT THERE HAS BEEN, QUOTE, SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN TEMPERATURES OF THOSE BATTERIES. SO RIGHT NOW THEY’RE COMING UP WITH A PLAN TO MOVE THAT TESLA, MOVE THAT SEMI, WHICH WAS THE CAB ONLY TO THAT NEVADA TESLA FACTORY PLANT. SO THERE IS SOME PROGRESS THERE. AND YOU CAN PROBABLY HEAR OVER ON THE OTHER SIDE WESTBOUND 80 OPEN. BUT WE ARE STILL HERE ON THE EASTBOUND SIDE OF I-80. THAT IS STILL CLOSED. THEY ARE STOPPING US HERE AT NYACK FOR THOSE SAFETY REASONS, BECAUSE THAT SEMI AND THAT BATTERY IS STILL, STILL THERE, STILL ON THAT SIDE OF THE INTERSTATE. IT’S JUST BEEN A LONG WAITING GAME FOR EVERYONE HERE. AND ALL OF THOSE STRANDED DRIVERS. A BURNING BATTERY FROM A TESLA ELECTRIC BIG RIG THERE BURNING UP. WE HAD TO CLOSE THE HIGHWAY IN BOTH DIRECTIONS TO KEEP THE PUBLIC SAFE FROM DRIVING THROUGH THE TOXIC FUMES. BRINGS BUSINESS ON INTERSTATE 80 TO A STANDSTILL, THEY SAY MAYBE UNTIL 10 P.M. HOW MANY HOURS HAVE YOU BEEN HERE? SINCE? EIGHT HOURS. ALREADY? YEAH. NINE HOURS. STUCK IN HERE. STUCK WHILE CAL FIRE CREWS AND TESLA ENGINEERS WAIT FOR THE CHARGE OF THE LITHIUM ION BATTERIES TO DIE AND BURN THEMSELVES OUT, IS WHEN THEY BREAK DOWN, THEY START FEEDING OFF OF EACH OTHER, AND THEY CATCH FIRE. THEY BURN THEMSELVES OUT USING THE BATTERY ITSELF AS FUEL. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME FIRE CREWS HAVE FACED THIS TYPE OF SEMI TRUCK ELECTRIC BATTERY. EMERGENCY CHIEF RYAN WESSNER SAYS THEY’VE TRAINED WITH TESLA ON BROKEN DOWN RIGS BUT NOT BURNING BATTERIES. THIS IS NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR US AND WE ARE LEARNING WITH THE ENGINEERS AS WE WORK THROUGH THIS PROCESS. AND SO FAR, THE NAME OF THE GAME FOR US RIGHT NOW IS TO WAIT IT OUT. I PICK UP WITH THE BOYS OVER IN STOCKTON. IT’S SUPPOSED TO GO TO TESLA TODAY IN AN IRONIC TWIST, THIS MODESTO TRUCK DRIVER IS HAULING ELECTRIC BATTERY PARTS 46,000 POUNDS OF COILS TO THE TESLA FACTORY IN NEVADA. YOU WERE GOING TO THE TESLA FACTORY. TESLA FACTORY? YEAH. THIS IS THESE COILS TO MAKE THOSE KIND OF BATTERIES. THEY GOT BURNED OVER THERE. OTHER DRIVERS TRIED TO WAIT IT OUT BUT ARE GIVING UP AND GOING HOME. DOWNRIGHT SCARY. YEAH. I MEAN, WE KNOW ALL KINDS OF STUFF IS TRANSPORTED OVER THE ROADS AND, YOU KNOW, ALL IT TAKES IS AN ACCIDENT FOR IT TO TURN BAD. CONTRERAS SAYS HE WON’T DRIVE A TRUCK WITH AN ELECTRIC BATTERY. WHAT HAPPENED IS THIS TRUCK GOT BURNED, LIKE IN THE CITY OR SOMETHING. THEY WANT TO EVACUATE EVERYBODY. WELL, IT HAS BEEN FRUSTRATING FOR THOSE DRIVERS. LIKE CONTRERAS. HE’S SELF-EMPLOYED, SO HE DOESN’T GET PAID UNTIL HE DROPS THAT HAUL. DROPS THOSE BATTERY PARTS AT THE TESLA FACTORY. AND AS FOR THAT DRIVER TODAY, HE’S NOT HURT. HE WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL TO BE CHECKED OUT, AND CHP IS INVESTIGATING WHY HE VEERED OFF INTERSTATE 80. IN THE FIRST PLACE. SO THEY’RE STILL INVESTIGATING THAT. BUT NOW IT’S STILL A WAITING GAME BECAUSE EASTBOUND I-80 IS STILL CLOSED. AND I’M TOLD THAT’S STILL GOING TO TAKE A COUPLE OF HOURS SINCE THEY’RE WORKING ON THAT TESLA SEMI AND THOSE BURNED OUT BATTERIES. RIGHT NOW. REPORTING LIVE NEAR NYACK MICHELLE BANDUR KCRA 3 NEWS. WHAT A PROCESS, MICHELLE. AND THAT DRIVER BRINGING UP A REALLY GOOD POINT. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THAT HAPPENED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY? ALL RIGHT. LIVECOPTER3 HERE OVER THE EFFORT TO FIGHT THIS FIRE IN OUR NOON HOUR, YOU CAN SEE THAT RETARDANT DROP IN THE PINK RETARDANT ON THE ROAD LEFT BEHIND AS FIRE CREWS WERE WORKING TO CREATE A PERIMETER AROUND THAT FIRE SO IT DIDN’T SPREAD TO THE VEGETATION. AND CREATE A WILDFIRE. AFTER THAT SEMI TRUCK FIRE AND TAKE A LOOK AT THE TRUCK ITSELF. AFTER THE FIRE WAS PUT OUT, JUST NOTHING. ALMOST NOTHING, JUST ASH. AND THEN JUST AN IMPRINT OF BASICALLY THE BOTTOM OF THAT VEHICLE. WE WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THIS STORY. WE’LL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THE ROAD CLOSURES. THEY ARE MAKING PROGRESS ON THAT FRONT. BUT AS YOU HEARD FROM MICHELLE BA
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