A late-night stop at a gas station in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, could have turned dangerous — but quick thinking and teamwork helped prevent the worst.

The fire happened at Winner Gas Station on Humboldt Avenue North on Dec. 30, 2025. Brooklyn Center police officers quickly pushed the car from the gas pumps, preventing a potentially explosive situation. 

"Fires are going to go up," said Brooklyn Center Fire Chief Todd Berg. "By the quick-thinking officer, by pushing the car out from underneath the canopy, saves further damage to maybe the gas station or the building itself."

The move created distance, and time, until fire crews arrived to find smoke coming from underneath the vehicle, where the battery is located.

"In an EV fire, you have to sort of attack it or extinguish it differently than a gasoline vehicle," Berg said. "A battery pack is usually packed underneath on an EV vehicle, so there's special tools we use."

Firefighters deployed two new tools: a special fire blanket and a "Turtle."

"The fire blanket is a specialized piece of equipment. We'll put it up over the vehicle so that it's not allowing any additional oxygen in," Berg said.

Berg said the "Turtle" is like a big sprinkler.

"Two people can pick it up and slide it under the vehicle," he said. "It cools down the battery packs. It puts out around 500 gallons of water a minute." 

Berg says a typical car fire takes around 10 to 15 minutes to extinguish and requires around 500 gallons of water total. But the gas station operation took 2.5 hours and nearly 30,000 gallons of water.

"If you recognize smoke or heat or, you know, something's not right, pull over, check things out, and if you notice a fire dial 911," Berg said.