At least 2 dead in fiery multi-vehicle crash in San Jose involving Teslas on Highway 87

By Carlos E. Castañeda

Two people were killed in a fiery multi-vehicle crash involving Teslas on Highway 87 in San Jose late Tuesday morning, authorities said.

According to the San Jose Fire Department, firefighters were called to the freeway north of Curtner Avenue shortly after 10:50 a.m. The California Highway Patrol said the crash involved a total of four vehicles, two of them Teslas, a Lexus, and a fourth vehicle that left the scene. Fire burned the three vehicles that remained.

“It was a pretty robust dispatch from the Fire Department, and upon arrival, crews did find multiple vehicles involved with fire,” said Battalion Chief Bennett Yendery.

The two people who died were an adult and a child, the CHP said. At least two other people were taken to the hospital in unknown condition.

All northbound lanes of Highway 87 were blocked, and traffic was backed up to Capitol Expressway. The lanes were reopened by 3:43 p.m., the CHP said.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash.

Yendery said firefighters’ first priority was containing the flames and creating space to work, but even getting a clear look at what they were dealing with took time.

“The chain of events … it’s hard to say what happened when,” said Yendery. “A lot of smoke obscuring the situation initially, but when I did gain visual, all three [vehicles] were involved in fire.”

CHP investigators were working to figure out what set off the deadly sequence, including how the fire started. Both the CHP and the Fire Department said the involvement of the Teslas and their lithium batteries did not create additional difficulties, and the fire was handled like a typical vehicle fire. 

“Our crews use a standard precaution … respiratory protection, tons of water, situational awareness, closing the freeway to give them room to work,” said Yendery. “And the fire went out in an expected time frame.”

“We respond to crashes all the time … vehicles have many different working components,” said CHP spokesman Officer Ross Lee. “But the cause of the fire will be under investigation as well.”