GM Design Studio Had A Concept Car Catch On Fire – Here's What We Know

A concept vehicle caught fire Wednesday evening at General Motors' Advanced Design Center in Pasadena, California, triggering a full-fledged four-alarm response. The fire began just shy of 6 p.m. on Oct. 22, and it took more than 100 firefighters, multiple hazardous materials teams, and even some special rescue units.

The facility is 149,000 square feet in all and combine that with the heavy smoke that quickly filled the place, it took crews until almost 1:30 a.m. to locate the fire's source and get everything under control. One firefighter actually got trapped inside the building and issued a mayday call before being rescued to safety. All in all, the entire ordeal took about seven and a half hours... and was traced back to just one concept car.

That's not to dismiss the severity of the blaze, of course: both lithium-ion battery packs and gas-powered prototypes were there inside the facility, and that's a serious hazard for anyone on-site. On their own, gas or batteries can seriously complicate firefighting operations, and here, firefighters were up against both. Electric vehicle fires are especially problematic because overheated cells can put off toxic gases and even reignite after the flames are ostensibly put out. It's one of the biggest problems with lithium batteries.

Initial reports made it seem like there was a much bigger, much more wide-ranging fire than what the crews eventually discovered. This misrepresentation of facts was likely because firefighters had to spend over an hour just to pinpoint where the fire was because of all the thick smoke and chemical hazards.

The Pasadena Advanced Design Center first opened in 2021 following a $71 million investment and currently serves as the home for GM's most innovative ideas. Specifically, it's the home for concept vehicles and advanced battery technologies, both of which were at risk during this long and drawn-out ordeal.

Luckily, investigators were able to confirm that the fire was only isolated to a single concept car. It never spread to any other vehicles or the actual structure of the building itself. No employees or firefighters were injured, and all the damage was completely confined to the area around the vehicle. Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the car to ignite in the first place, but lithium-ion batteries seem like the most likely to blame.