Flames engulf Tesla in Tilden park in Berkeley: video
Firefighters from the Moraga-Orinda Fire District and the Berkeley Fire Department put out the blaze.
A Tesla on fire in Tilden park in Berkeley on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. Mike Robinson
Berkeley firefighters doused a Tesla that caught fire under mysterious circumstances in Tilden Regional Park on Sunday morning.
The cause of the fire was completely unknown as of Sunday night, authorities said.
Firefighters from the Moraga-Orinda Fire District and the Berkeley Fire Department responded Sunday morning to put out the blaze.
The call about the fire came in at about 10:30 a.m.
A passer-by saw the parked Tesla filling up with smoke and called 911.
Meanwhile, the car caught fire, a reader told The Berkeley Scanner: "At some point, trees were getting involved [and] some parts were starting to explode."
When firefighters arrived, they found the Tesla fully engulfed in flames in a pull-out parking area on South Park Drive just east of Grizzly Peak Boulevard, Acting BFD Battalion Chief DeJuan Turner said.
The car was unoccupied and its owner was not in the area.
It took about 20 minutes to put out the flames.
It was unknown as of publication time whether the Tesla's batteries had any connection to the fire's cause, Turner said.
