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Tesla fire on Dulles Access Road sends one to hospital

An electric vehicle crashed and caught fire on the Dulles Access Road in Tysons yesterday (Wednesday), sending one person to the hospital during yesterday’s afternoon rush-hour.

Units with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched for an electric vehicle fire in the westbound lanes of the Dulles Access Road near Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) in Tysons at 5:03 p.m., according to the emergency scanner.

The incident was described on the scanner and by the fire department as a “multiple vehicle crash,” but it actually only involved a single electric vehicle — specifically a Tesla, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).

“Airports Authority police worked the scene diverting traffic and then conducted an investigation,” an MWAA spokesperson said. “… Fairfax County Fire responded to the scene, extinguished the fire and transported the driver.”

The driver was taken to a hospital with injuries described by the FCFRD as non-life-threatening.

According to the FCFRD, all westbound lanes of the Dulles Access Road and three lanes of the Dulles Toll Road (Route 267) were closed as firefighters worked to extinguish the fire.

NBC4 reporter Joseph Olmo reported that the closure slowed afternoon rush-hour traffic heading toward Dulles International Airport to a crawl.

“If you know anything about Tesla fires, vehicle fires, they’re not easy to put out. They can burn for hours,” Olmo said in an Instagram reel posted around 7:30 p.m. “The fire is now out, but the traffic is still here.”

According to MWAA, the closure lasted “for about two hours before the scene could be safely cleared,” MWAA said.

An investigation into the crash is underway. As of last night, no charges had been filed, but MWAA said an update might be forthcoming today (Thursday).

 

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Hat tip to Jamie Rogers

About the Author

  • Angela Woolsey is the site editor for FFXnow. A graduate of George Mason University, she worked as a general assignment reporter for the Fairfax County Times before joining Local News Now as the Tysons Reporter editor in 2020.