F150 Lightning EV Fire in Service Bay

[TaxmanHog]

An F-150 Lightning goes into thermal runaway on a lift inside a Ford dealership's service bay, in the middle of the business day. Radio traffic reveals a tense few minutes where firefighters weren't sure everyone made it out, followed by explosions inside the structure.

I break down what actually caused those explosions, why nobody grabbing an extinguisher was the right call, and why an incident this serious almost never made the news.

Speedway Ford, Griffin, Georgia — June 18th, 2026

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[The Weatherman]

Oouch.

 

[DavidS]

Was the battery actually already off the truck and on a lift table?

 

[Kev12345]

I'm glad Ford is going LFP on the future trucks. It should make these rare incidents almost non-existent.

 

[Maxx]

I wish there was a database of these fires so we could see correlations between age of the battery and number of fires. I like to keep my truck for 20 years but not if the risk at the year 10 is 20 times of what it was at year 1.

AI tells me BMS tries to de-rate and limit fast charging as battery gets older to compensate for Lithium plating, dendrite growth, SEI layer Breakdown, internal resistance increase, …

My battery is usually in the shade during summer, plugged in in winter, spend most of it’s life around 50% SOC, minimal fast charging but still going through a lot of charging cycles.

I am still not sure at what age squeeze is not worth the juice and it becomes too risky to go for a joy ride.

those of you that change cars/trucks every 3 years probably don’t care but anyone else has read anything about battery age vs risk for our type of battery?

 

[RocketGhost]

I wish there was a database of these fires so we could see correlations between age of the battery and number of fires. I like to keep my truck for 20 years but not if the risk at the year 10 is 20 times of what it was at year 1.

A risk 20 times of what it was at year one would still be a fraction of the risk of an ICE vehicle catching fire.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

A risk 20 times of what it was at year one would still be a fraction of the risk of an ICE vehicle catching fire.

That's a wild stretch of the imagination.

 

[Lightning Rod]

Very curious as to what caused the battery to catch fire.

 

[garsh]

That's a wild stretch of the imagination.

Actually, it's about correct, depending on which studies are being quoted.

EV fires are sensationalized in the media, but the actual rate of fires for EVs are a small fraction of the rate for combustion vehicles.

https://firerover.com/resources/how-often-do-ev-batteries-catch-fire/

How Common Are EV Fires?
Here’s what current studies say — EV fires, while dramatic, are significantly less frequent than those in gasoline-powered vehicles:

• All-electric vehicles experience about 25 fires per 100,000 sold, compared to 1,530 fires per 100,000 for gasoline cars
• In Sweden, EVs and hybrids caught fire at a rate of 3.8 fires per 100,000 vehicles, whereas combustion-engine cars caught fire at 68 per 100,000, making ICE vehicles nearly 29x more likely to ignite.
• Studies spanning 2010–2020 saw EV battery fire rates at 0.0012%, compared to 0.1% for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.
• In Poland, EVs and ICE vehicles had equal incident rates—approximately 0.23 fires per 1,000 registered vehicles.

Key Takeaway: Across multiple geographies and datasets, EVs catch fire far less frequently than gas cars and, in some cases, are on par with ICEs as they become more prevalent.

 

[RickLightning]

Posting this just sensationalizes it more... AI picks up and boom... But clicks...

 

[TaxmanHog]

Posting this just sensationalizes it more... AI picks up and boom... But clicks...

It's news, who cares the source, E'f ai

 

[TaxmanHog]

Very curious as to what caused the battery to catch fire.

Likewise, wondering if the technician wasn't careful with isolation procedures while opening up and disassembling the pack of defective module(s) ?

Tools dropped where there was a high risk of dead shorting?

Unexpected cell thermal event?

I'm sure the shop's insurance company will want to understand the root cause, as well as the local fire authorities

Spreading information can only help in situations like this when it takes ancient bureaucracies months and years to root out the issues and educate folks directly impacted

 

[Runaway Tractor]

It's a relevant topic of discussion. Pretending it didn't happen is stupid. Not discussing it to prevent people that aren't on this forum from seeing the topic is senseless.

 

[DerMot]

Seems like someone played with the image of the truck on the hoist. The tail lights aren't that of a lightning. I don't know if the Pro model has a different tailgate vs. others with the light bar.... but

 

[DerMot]

Seems like someone played with the image of the truck on the hoist. The tail lights aren't that of a lightning. I don't know if the Pro model has a different tailgate vs. others with the light bar.... but

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