Firefighters responded to a small fire at the Tesla Inc. factory on Thursday afternoon. in Fremont, California.
“Located in part of the factory site under construction, the deep-seated fire was confined to a vehicle production stamping machine,” the Fremont fire department said in an Instagram post Thursday night, referring to Tesla’s giant stamping machine, the so-called Giga Press. “The cause of the fire is molten aluminum and hydraulic fluid. Hydraulic fluid was identified as the source of the fire. “
There were no injuries.
Video from a news helicopter showed the fire had been extinguished, with firefighters and Tesla workers hanging around a covered, open-air construction of machinery away from the main factory building. Slight plumes of smoke were visible.
According to news blog Electrek, the Giga Press is a giant casting machine installed at the Fremont factory last year and used for stamping large pieces of body panels. Electrek speculated that damage to the Giga Press could affect production, but to what extent is not yet known.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment or details, but also closed its media relations division last year.
The Fremont plant employs approximately 10,000 people and produces Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y electric vehicles.
In August 2018, another small fire broke out at the factory, causing no injuries and did not adversely affect production.
The Fremont plant was shut down for two days last month due to what CEO Elon Musk called a “parts shortage.”
Tesla shares TSLA,
almost 5% gain on Thursday, but are flat so far compared to a 5% gain for the S&P 500 SPX,
this year.