EMIGRANT GAP, Calif. —
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened a safety investigation into the crash and fire involving a Tesla electric-powered big rig on Interstate 80 Monday.
The agency announced the investigation on Wednesday.
Watch previous coverage in the video above.
Fire crews were first dispatched to the crash site near the Emigrant Gap area of Placer County around 3:16 a.m. The big rig went off eastbound I-80 near the offramp for Laing Road and crashed into trees.
Drivers were being kept off the interstate for at least half a mile in both directions because the Tesla electric vehicle's battery was on fire, said Jason Lyman, a California Highway Patrol spokesperson. The toxic fumes are an inhalation danger, he said.
The closure impacted multiple businesses on Monday and the eastbound lanes of I-80 were closed for around 16 hours.
The fire also proved difficult for Cal Fire crews to extinguish. Battalion chief Nolan Hale told KCRA 3 on Tuesday it was a new incident for all of the agencies involved.
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“There's a reaction, an exothermic reaction, occurring within a battery cell that is contained and heavily contained by design,” Hale said. “It's very hard for us to access those.”
The NTSB is coordinating the crash investigation with the California Highway Patrol.