Battery fire engulfs Tesla on I-280 in Daly City after crash, shutting down lanes for hours

DALY CITY, Calif. (KGO) -- A Tesla battery fire that engulfed a vehicle early Tuesday morning shut down northbound I-280 for hours in Daly City.

Officials tell ABC7 Eyewitness News the Model Y lost control, rolled, and burst into flames just before 6 a.m. As of 10 a.m., all northbound I-280 lanes have been reopened at Hickey Blvd.

Crews responded to reports of a car that was smoking and discovered that the Tesla battery was on fire.

One person was able to get out of the vehicle and are they are doing OK.

Captain Jeff Higgins with North County Fire Authority says the car then went into "thermal runaway," which is when water will not put out the fire. Crews then backed away, focused on protecting from the fire spreading, and had to wait for the fire to burn off.

"When we first arrived, it was a ball of flame, it was a fireworks show basically with everything coming off of it," Captain Higgins said.

The cause of the crash is unclear but roads were wet at the time.

CHP San Francisco says they've seen crashes at that same location in the past during bad weather.