A Tesla that had been sitting in a California wrecking yard for three weeks not only spontaneously caught on fire but kept re-igniting several times after firefighters tried to put it out.

The multiple fires from the Tesla led firefighters to use 4,500 gallons of water to completely put an end to the blaze.

"Crews knocked the fire down, but the car kept re-igniting and off-gassing in the battery compartment,” Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said in a Facebook post earlier this month.

On Thursday, the fire department confirmed in a comment on the post that the Tesla manual states that it takes 3-8,000 gallons of water to extinguish a fire produced from the vehicle. Some people commented on the post questioning if water should have been used to put out a lithium battery fire.

Firefighters said it “took a significant amount of time, water, and some thinking outside the box to extinguish.”

To get the fire completely under control, firefighters “created a small pit, placed the car inside it, and filled the pit with water effectively submerging the battery compartment. The pit ultimately reduced the total amount of water needed, estimated at 4500 gallons, and limited the runoff of contaminated water,” the fire departments Facebook post said.

There have been no reported injuries from the fires.

"While lithium batteries are normally safe, they may cause injury if they have design defects, are made of low quality materials, are assembled incorrectly, are used or recharged improperly, or are damaged," the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said.

In 2019, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also opened a Defect Petition for Tesla Model S and X vehicles manufactured between 2012 and 2019 related to battery fires.

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