[fast_e_man]

That’s not really true --- Lithium Ion battery fires are more dangerous than conventional gasoline fires. It is a big deal.

lithium battery fires shouldn’t be treated like common fires. The burn characteristics and toxic by-product release components are different. Once a Li+ battery catches fire you will be hard pressed to stop the fire. Usually it will need to burn itself out --- that means you typically can’t extinguish the Li+ battery fire by covering the burning battery with dry chemicals or halon. At that point it’s too late and thermal runaway has started.
Lithium batteries are capable of spontaneous ignition and subsequent explosion due to overheating. Overheating may be caused by electrical shorting, rapid discharge, overcharging, manufacturer defect, poor design, or mechanical damage. In the case of an auto accident, it’s most likely mechanical damage.
Overheating results in thermal runaway, which is a reaction within the battery causing internal temperature and pressure to rise at a quicker rate then can be dissipated. When a battery goes into thermal runaway, the thermal propagation creates a chain reaction. The fire may be a progressive burn-off or one that is explosive. Both of these types of thermal events, as well as their negative by-products (shrapnel, molten metal, burning electrolytes, and other matter) are really dangerous.
Once one battery cell goes into thermal runaway, it produces enough heat to cause adjacent battery cells to also go into thermal runaway. This produces a fire that repeatedly flares up as each battery cell in turn ruptures and releases its contents. The result is the release of flammable electrolyte from the battery and, can cause the release of molten burning lithium. It’s a big issue that these fires can’t be treated like “normal” fires and require specific training, and extinguishing techniques.

Tesla stock dropped about 5% after the fire news went viral.