A Tesla has crashed in New York, and the resulting post-crash fire is one of the worst we’ve seen. Witnesses describe the explosion that followed, and how a passerby was felled by the blast.
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In the latest of a long list of Tesla fires following crashes, two occupants of the Tesla vehicle are dead and others injured. Police report that the vehicle struck a curb and a tree before slamming into a multifamily residence. What happened next is quite unusual, even for a battery-electric vehicle fire. The vehicle exploded, and shrapnel from the powerful blast injured a bystander.
The White Plains (NY) Safety Commissioner David Chong commented on the explosion, saying, “These electric vehicles. The electric fires are very, very difficult to put out.” Witnesses say that the fire was so intense that police used a truck and tow cable to pull the vehicle away from the multifamily residence to help protect the structure from the ensuing inferno.
Mr. Chong described the way the Tesla was engulfed by saying, “It exploded like a bomb, quite honestly.” CBS News reporter Tony Aeillo described the blast as so powerful that shrapnel was sent flying, striking a person walking nearby who required medical attention for the injury. According to News12 Westchester, two children inside the apartment building were treated at the scene for injuries. Westchester News 12 also quoted property owner, property owner Bob Kraus as saying “This was a big impact, so she was doing substantial speed. Whether it was her fault or whether it was the car's fault, I'm not an investigator."
Two female occupants of the Tesla were tragically killed in the crash, fire, and blast. The occupant on the driver’s side was aged 70, and the occupant on the passenger side was age 36. Torque News does not describe occupants in Tesla crashes as “driver” and “passenger” since, in some prior crashes and fires, it was determined that the occupant on the driver’s side was not performing the act of driving the vehicle but was instead a passive occupant of the vehicle which was being controlled by Tesla’s Autopilot system.
At least two families have been displaced by the fiery Tesla explosion, and they are being assisted by the Red Cross.
Torque News will update this story if more details of the investigation related to the cause of this crash are released to the public.
Due to the sensitive nature of this report, Torque News has opted not to include a top-of-page image of the event. More reporting on this story can be found at the CBS video link above and also here:
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John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work at our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ Grammarly grammar and punctuation software when proofreading.
Image of Tesla vehicle at top of page is representative and was taken by John Goreham.
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