Spontaneously combusting battery in EV pickup truck burned so hot two other vehicles melted - outside on a holding lot

Police body cam footage from an F-150 Lightning battery fire in a holding lot in Michigan on Feb. 4 revealed dramatic images of three melted pickup trucks, according to video footage released by the Dearborn Police Department.

A report filed by Ford Motor with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the high voltage battery pack had short-circuited due to a manufacturing issue when cells were at a high state of charge.

The incident has raised concerns about how much water is needed to put out EV fires and whether a special foam is required.

According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, the video footage, obtained by CNBC through a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request, "totaled about two hours of video, including overlapping footage, from 17 police bodycams and vehicle dashcams between 3:36 p.m. and 4:22 p.m. ET, according to time stamps on the bodycam videos,” CNBC said.

The video shows smoke billowing from three tightly packed electric pickups in a Ford Motor holding lot in Dearborn, Michigan.

According to the article on CNBC.com, moments later, flames shoot several feet above the vehicles, which were unoccupied. It wasn’t clear based on public documents and police video how long the fires burned. 

"Needs a whole lake to put the fire out"  

The responding fire officers seemed to have been shocked at the intensity of the fire, based on some of the comments caught on the video:

“We’re not putting this f---er out. Look at it,” said one responding officer during the February F-150 Lightning fire.

First responders can be heard on video expressing concern about how much water is needed to put out EV fires and whether a special foam would be required. They also questioned the viability and safety of electric vehicles.

“They have to put like a whole f---ing lake on it to put them out,” the same officer said during the Feb. 4 event.