HFD: Tesla Cybertruck fire took over an hour to extinguish, here's why

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A Tesla Cybertruck caught on fire Tuesday, ironically after crashing into a fire hydrant. Crews worked on extinguishing the battery for over an hour. ValleyCentral reached out to local authorities to find out why it took so long to put out the flames and what protocols are required when dealing with electric vehicle fires.

The crash took place at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday between Sam’s Club and Bass Pro Shop, off of Spur 54 and Bass Pro Drive, when a Cybertruck crashed into a fire hydrant, compromising its undercarriage.

Though photos circulating of the Harlingen-single-vehicle crash show the Cybertruck to be mostly in tact, underneath is where the damage was hidden.

Assistant Fire Chief Ruben Balboa with the Harlingen Police Department said the Cybertruck’s battery ignited after the water from the fire hydrant soaked it.

First responders said they thought they had extinguished the flames coming from the Cybertruck, but shortly after stopping the water flow onto the battery, the fire began again.

Balboa said it took an hour and a half to put out the fire because the car was electric.

_{A Cybertruck caught fire in Harlingen after crashing into a fire hydrant (Photo taken by ValleyCentral's Steven Masso)}

"Electric cars such as Tesla, they are not like ordinary cars where we can go and just turn it off with water, it's just gonna take an extensive amount of water," said Harlingen Fire Chief Rafael Balderas.

The Chief told ValleyCentral there is fire equipment such as blankets that are used to go over an electric vehicle and smother a fire.

He said the Harlingen Fire Department is looking to acquire some of these blankets. He noted some departments across the Rio Grande Valley have already been equipped with them as well.

Additionally, Balboa said that when the tow truck came to take the Cybertruck away, a fire unit followed it to be sure the battery did not ignite again.

Balderas said this is the first case of an electric vehicle catching fire in Harlingen.

Witnesses to Tuesday's fire said that while the flames and gasses were not visible to the human eye, the smell of the battery strongly penetrated the air in the area.

The fire chief said he cannot speak to whether or not those fumes are toxic to people.