Florida Fire Department Issues Warning to EV Owners After Seeing What Hurricanes Trigger
In the wake of Hurricane Idalia’s landfall in Florida’s Big Bend near Keaton Beach on Wednesday, a local fire and rescue department has warned owners of electric-powered vehicles — including golf carts and scooters — that exposure to salt water can cause the vehicles’ batteries to catch fire.
Palm Harbor Fire Rescue on Florida’s Gulf Coast issued the warning on Facebook Wednesday afternoon, telling owners to move their battery-powered vehicles out of their garages if they had come in contact with salt water, to prevent the fire spreading to the structure.
The warning was apparently triggered by a fire in a Tesla Wednesday in nearby Dunedin, a city just south of the unincorporated area of Palm Harbor.
“If you own a hybrid or electric vehicle that has come into contact with saltwater due to recent flooding within the last 24 hours,
