Tesla has been hit with another lawsuit over a deadly post-crash inferno, this time from a Washington state man whose wife died after his 2018 Model 3 “exploded into a raging fire” when an abrupt acceleration sent it into a utility pole and left rescuers unable to pry the doors open.
The federal complaint filed Friday claimed Jeffery and Wendy Dennis had no chance to escape because the sedan’s electronic handles died the instant the car lost power.
Wendy Dennis died at the scene while plaintiff Jeff Dennis suffered catastrophic burns.
The filing alleges the Model 3 “suddenly and rapidly accelerated out of control,” surging for roughly five seconds before the Jan. 7, 2023 impact in Tacoma.
The crash triggered what the suit calls an “extremely hot fire” that engulfed the cabin and burned for hours.
Several people ran toward the wreck but were driven back by flames described as “increasingly intense.”
With the handles idled, they could only “watch helplessly from a distance as the severely injured Jeff and Wendy burned in the inferno.”
The suit says the blast exposed “the vehicle’s high voltage battery pack [containing] thousands of highly explosive batteries” and produced a “hard-to-extinguish fire” that blocked access to both occupants.
Lawyers say the blaze grew so fast, “it quickly becomes too hot for rescuers to react effectively.”
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The complaint also blames defective acceleration and braking systems, alleging the automatic emergency braking never activated despite an unavoidable collision.
The filing lands as regulators probe whether Tesla doors trap occupants when low-voltage power fails — scrutiny fueled by a string of similar fire-entrapment lawsuits.
In Wisconsin, families sued over a Model S fire that killed five people in Verona on Nov. 1, 2024, after they allegedly became trapped as flames tore through the car.
A neighbor who called 911 reported “big flames” and “big bangs” and said she could “hear people screaming from within the vehicle.”
Emergency crews allegedly found the doors inoperable.
Rear-seat passengers had only a hidden mechanical release buried under carpeting — a mechanism the lawsuit says couldn’t be found in smoke and darkness. None of the five occupants escaped.
The Bauer family claims the victims survived the initial crash but died because Tesla ignored years of warnings that electronic releases fail after power loss.
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said that “road conditions, excess speed, and impaired driving” all contributed to the collision.
The driver of the car and all of the passengers were legally drunk at the time of the crash, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
In California, parents of 21-year-old Krysta Michelle Tsukahara say a Cybertruck became a “death trap” when it burst into flames on Nov. 27, 2024, after hitting a tree in Alameda County.
Tsukahara survived the crash but couldn’t escape because the Cybertruck had no exterior handles and relied entirely on low-voltage buttons that went dead as soon as the fire began.
A Good Samaritan also failed to open the doors.
The only emergency option in her seating position was a concealed wire loop hidden inside the map pocket at the bottom of the door — a setup the complaint calls impractical as the cabin filled with fire.
Rescuers couldn’t break through the truck’s “armor glass” or stainless-steel doors in time. Tsukahara died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.
All three suits claim Tesla knew for years that its electric door systems routinely fail when power is lost — and ignored repeated warnings from owners, first responders and regulators.
The filings also allege the company understated the fire risks tied to its lithium-ion battery packs.
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