A Tesla crashed and caught fire in homeowner Jason Whitson’s front yard. He pulled the driver to safety, then firefighters worked to contain the EV blaze.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A residential neighborhood in Corpus Christi was shaken up early Monday after a Tesla crashed near the intersection of Ennis Joslin Road and Carson Drive, coming to rest in flames in a homeowner’s front yard.
Officials with the Corpus Christi Police Department said the crash happened around 3:30 a.m. The woman driving the Tesla lost control of her speed and was unable to stay in her lane, while heading toward Ocean Drive, causing the vehicle to erupt in flames. She was cited at the scene and was not injured, police said.
Hours later, crews with the Corpus Christi Fire Department and CCPD remained on site, blocking a lane as firefighters monitored the wreckage.
Jason Whitson, a homeowner whose front yard the burning car landed in, said he jumped into action in a split second.
“I was in my bedroom upstairs in the house and I heard the commotion,” said Whitson.
Whitson said he rushed outside when he saw flames coming from beneath the vehicle.
“Came out on my porch and then saw an ember underneath the vehicle that was there,” he said. “I ran downstairs, grabbed the kitchen fire extinguisher, came out to start putting out the fire.”
That’s when he realized the driver was still inside the car.
“I kind of helped and pulled her out of the car,” Whitson said. “She was dazed, probably more from the emotional and the weirdness of it. She didn’t seem to be injured.”
CCFD Assistant Chief Frank Solansky said electric vehicle fires pose unique challenges and can be extremely difficult to extinguish.
“It’s going to be very stubborn to put out, if not impossible, especially through the first few hours if it got into the battery,” Solansky said. “So we need to look at exposures is the main thing.”
He said firefighters focused on protecting nearby homes.
“We were more worried about the exposure to the two houses that were right there involved,” Solansky said. “Initially put lines down, started spraying water on the vehicle. It was also exposed to a high line wire too so we didn’t want to get underneath that.”
Even with the flames out, the danger isn’t gone yet, he said.
“It’s not actively on fire, but it’s still producing heat,” Solansky said. “So whenever the tow truck comes in here, we’ll also send an engine company to follow the tow truck and then once it gets to their lot, we still wanna have a 50 ft exposure where it’s not near anything because it’s still, you know, in the next 48 hours that runaway could then start and the battery could catch on fire again.”
Whitson said he’s happy he was able to help.
“It takes a village. So I’d want somebody to do that for me, you know, I’ve been in accidents before,” Whitson said.