NTSB investigating Tesla crash in California

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it is opening an investigation into a crash involving a Tesla electric semitruck in Northern California.

The NTSB wrote Wednesday on the social platform X that it will investigate the Aug. 19 crash and fire that involved a Tesla electric powered truck tractor on Interstate 80 near Emigrant Gap, Calif. It said it will investigate alongside the California Highway Patrol.

A local CBS News outlet reported Monday that both directions of California’s Interstate 80 closed in the Sierra Nevada after an electric Tesla semitruck caught fire around 3 a.m. local time. The California Highway Patrol said it was dealing with a hazardous materials situation, according to CBS.

The batteries of the electric vehicle continued to burn for hours after the fire started, first responders told CBS.

“The battery itself, you can’t just spray water on it to put it out. It takes either some sort of dry chemical or very huge amount of water, I’ve heard as much as 40,000 gallons,” Jason Lyman, an officer with California Highway Patrol’s Gold Run division, told CBS.

Other Tesla vehicles have also caught on fire when involved in crashes. Earlier this month, The Associated Press reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is gathering information about a fatal crash and fire involving a Tesla Cybertruck on Aug. 5.

The Hill has reached out to the California Highway Patrol and Tesla for comment.

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