Lithium-ion vehicle incident shuts Kūhiō Highway in Kapaʻa, no injuries reported

A smoking lithium-ion three-wheel vehicle shut down a stretch of Kūhiō Highway in Kapaʻa on Wednesday evening, forcing police to close the road and firefighters to treat the battery as a serious thermal-runaway hazard even though no one was injured.

Kaua‘i Fire Department crews were dispatched shortly after 5:30 p.m. to the area near Mariachi’s Mexican Cuisine. They arrived shortly before 5:40 p.m. and found smoke coming from a 3-wheel Akimoto vehicle. The Kaua‘i Police Department closed the road as a precaution while firefighters from Kaiākea Fire Station, the on-duty battalion chief, and the Kaua‘i County Department of Public Works worked the scene.

No tow companies were willing to move the lithium-ion vehicle, so KFD used Truck 8 to tow it to a safer location near Kapa‘a Beach Park. Crews monitored the vehicle there until the smoke stopped, but the battery later off-gassed again, sending responders back to the scene. The county said the battery was in thermal runaway, a dangerous condition that can keep venting heat, smoke and flammable gases, and can reignite even after visible flames are gone.

A nearby business was affected by the smoke and closed immediately. Firefighters apologized for the disruption as they continued to secure the vehicle, and the county said the scene was not fully cleared until shortly before 10:25 p.m. The vehicle was eventually towed by the Department of Public Works to the Kapa‘a Baseyard.

The incident came as Kaua‘i Fire Department renewed its warning that lithium-ion batteries are now powering more tools and technologies in homes, vehicles and workplaces across Kaua‘i. Its safety guidance tells residents to watch for unusual odors, popping sounds, leaking, swelling, unusual warmth and smoke, and to call 9-1-1 if a device is smoking or burning. The U.S. Fire Administration says lithium-ion battery incidents can release flammable gases and carry a risk of reignition, while the National Fire Protection Association’s 2025 Fire Prevention Week theme is “Charge into Fire Safety™: Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home.”