Diggers Rest CFA crews battle electric vehicle, grass fire on Plumpton Rd as Tesla destroyed

A Tesla was destroyed and a grassfire sparked after a driver swerved to avoid wildlife northwest of Melbourne overnight.

Multiple CFA crews attended the scene of a Tesla electric vehicle fire in Diggers Rest late Tuesday night. Picture: Supplied

An electric vehicle went up in flames causing a grass fire northwest of Melbourne overnight after the driver crashed to avoid hitting wildlife.

Emergency services responded to an electric vehicle fire on Plumpton Rd, Diggers Rest just before midnight on Tuesday.

Diggers Rest CFA crews — with assistance from Toolern Vale and Caroline Springs — arrived about 11.47pm where they also discovered an adjacent grass fire.

The Tesla driver swerved to avoid wildlife before the vehicle crashed into a guardrail. Picture: CFA

The grass fire was quickly brought under control but it took crews an extra 20 minutes to bring the car fire under control and another 20 before it was declared safe.

The Diggers Rest CFA captain said the electric vehicle, a Tesla Model Y, impacted a guard rail after it swerved to miss wildlife.

Victoria Police also attended.

CFA crews from multiple outposts assisted to bring the car and grass fire under control.
Picture: CFA Toolern Vale

A Toolern Vale CFA spokeswoman said “luckily” the lithium batteries inside the Tesla were unharmed.

“Did you know that lithium batteries can sometimes take hours if not days to extinguish if heavily involved in fire?” the spokeswoman said.

Ambulance Victoria were contacted to provide patients details.