An aerial view of the Tesla Fremont factory on April 24, 2024 in Fremont, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
A fire broke out in TeslaVehicle assembly plant in Fremont, California on Monday afternoon, according to a statement from the Fremont Fire Department, posted on the social media network X.
The department said that no injuries were reported among employees and firefighters at the scene.
An unknown number of firefighters responded to the fire, which broke out just before 5:00 p.m., at the Tesla facility located at 45500 Fremont Street. The incident was described as a fire in a two-storey commercial building.
The ministry said the fire apparently originated in an oven used in vehicle manufacturing operations, adding that the cause of the fire was “under investigation” as of Monday evening.
The fire was “extinguished” within hours, and fire crews were removed from the scene by approximately 8 p.m., the department said.
The Fremont factory is Tesla's first high-volume electric vehicle manufacturing facility. It was the first to produce the company's popular Model 3 sedans and Model Y SUVs, as well as the high-end Model S sedan and Model X, an SUV with falcon-wing doors.
On May 17, 2024, Tesla celebrated a major milestone for its Fremont factory in collaboration with its battery factory outside Reno, Nevada, saying it had surpassed the production of 3 million vehicles.
Monday's fire came after widespread layoffs at the Elon Musk-led automaker. Tesla recently cut another 601 jobs in California, including 164 at the Fremont factory.
Among the jobs eliminated at Fremont in this latest wave of layoffs were two Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) directors, and countless others working in EHS, security, equipment maintenance and emergency services, according to company filings with California. Employment Development Division.
Tesla's Fremont factory has a history of fires. For example, several fire incidents occurred at the plant from 2014 to 2018, including a mix of interior and exterior fires in 2018 alone, with more fires in 2019 and 2021.
Fires at the Fremont plant in the past have sometimes necessitated a temporary halt to production.
Tesla did not respond to a request for more information Monday evening.
The local environmental regulator, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAMQD), recently accused Tesla of allowing “unabated emissions” at the Fremont factory and said toxic air pollution should have been prevented.
BAAMQD is now seeking an abatement order that would force Tesla to implement changes to its factory operations to prevent further pollution.
Monday night, BAAMQD told CNBC via email that it was “aware of the fire and evaluating” the situation in Alameda County.
