Tesla driver’s chilling 911 call: ‘It’s on fire. Help please.’

New trial sheds terrifying light on Tesla driver’s death in October 2025.

Bloomberg reported on the wrongful death lawsuit, centering on Samuel Tremblett, 20, a driver who died after a collision involving a Tesla Model Y SUV in October last year.

According to the lawsuit, Tremblett was driving a 2021 Tesla Model Y outside of Boston when he left the road and struck a tree. He survived the initial impact, but was apparently unable to exit the vehicle due to an alleged failure of Tesla’s iconic power door system. He ultimately died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. Before he died, Tremblett called 911, but first responders were unable to rescue him in time.

The scariest part of this whole story comes from the 911 call transcripts found in the lawsuit.

“It’s on fire. Please help,” Tremblett said, according to the transcript. “I’m going to die.”

The suit says officers arrived quickly on the scene, but were unable to put out the fire or evacuate Tremblett in time. The lawsuit says it ultimately took firefighters four hours to put out the crashed Model Y.

As the fire burned, Tremblett remained on the phone with the 911 dispatcher:

I’m stuck in a car accident… I can’t get out, please help me… I can’t breathe… It’s on fire, it’s on fire. Please help me… I’m going to die… I’m dying. Help. I’m dying… Help… Help.

Last year, a Bloomberg report revealed 15 deaths linked to Tesla’s electronic door system, part of a broader investigation into the safety of Tesla’s doors. According to Bloomberg, each Tesla vehicle contains a low-voltage battery that controls components such as the doors, while a higher-voltage battery is responsible for propelling the car forward. If the low voltage battery is disabled for any reason, the doors will not open normally.

There is a mechanical unlock for the doors, but according to Bloomberg, many drivers are unaware of it or how to operate it. Additionally, panicked drivers in a life-or-death situation may have difficulty remembering the proper opening procedure.

The lawsuit accuses Tesla of selling vehicles with “defective and excessively dangerous automated door handles.” It further states that “Tesla had a duty to provide adequate warnings, instructions and information with the affected vehicle before placing it into the commercial stream” and that “Tesla knew or should have known of the defective and unreasonably dangerous condition of the 2021 Model Y.”

For its part, Tesla announced last year that it would update its vehicles so that the doors unlock automatically after a “serious collision.” However, the company only came to this conclusion after several suspected deaths linked to door failures.