Firefighters warn a Tesla fire is 'one of our worst nightmares'

Electric vehicle fires in US taking hours, thousands of gallons of water to extinguish

Greg Norman / FOXBusiness

The concerns come as electric vehicle sales are trending upward in the U.S., with automakers selling 807,180 of them last year to increase market share to 5.8%, compared to 3.2% in 2021, according to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal. 

Fire departments in states such as California and Massachusetts say electric vehicle fires are taking hours to put out, with one in recent weeks needing more than 20,000 gallons of water to extinguish. The challenges are being blamed in part on the batteries found inside electric vehicles. 

"It can take four to five hours to extinguish a battery fire and after that, once it gets to a tow yard, they have had those fires reignite -- even two to three days afterward," Lt. Robert Muylaert of Shelby Township Fire in Michigan told Fox2 Detroit.

"Once they start to burn, it goes into what is called thermal runaway," he added. "So in that one battery, [it] puts out enough heat and fire to light...Read more and see video here.