Two Tesla Superchargers at north Nanaimo's Woodgrove Centre in Nanaimo were destroyed by a fire early Saturday morning, with others in the immediate area also damaged. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

early morning fire

Two Nanaimo Tesla Superchargers destroyed in apparent arson

Mar 17, 2025 | 12:46 PM

NANAIMO — A pair of chargers were dismantled and others tampered with in an early morning fire deemed to be arson.

The incident was called into 911 on Saturday, March 15 just after 3 a.m. at the Woodgrove Centre beside Chapters on the Island Hwy., with responding crews finding two of the seven chargers on fire.

Nanaimo Fire Rescue fire prevention officer Alan Millbank told NanaimoNewsNOW they didn’t see the full scope of the situation until the fire was doused.

“We responded to it as though it was an electrical fire, and it wasn’t until afterwards that we determined it was an arson. I investigated it [Monday] and took a closer look at some of the other charging stations and realized that they had been vandalized, damaged by having the covers pride apart or smashed with blunt objects of some kind.”

The outer casing and other materials were badly burned by an early morning fire. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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early morning fire

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A site visit on Sunday, March 16 showed two chargers burned and taped off, while several others remained accessible to the public.

Millbank said Tesla, when contacted, responded to the situation quickly having been aware of the fire, but not the vandalism.

Nanaimo RCMP did not attend the scene, however will be looped in as a result of Millbank’s findings.

“I honestly couldn’t say if an accelerant had been put on them, or if they had been damaged and uncovered and then and something done to induce a fire,” Millbank said. The crews had put a fire extinguishing agent on it and there was not any way for me to do hydrocarbon detecting because they’re built out of plastic.”

While no previous incidents have been reported in Nanaimo, a global rise in vandalism on Tesla products, seen as a protest against company CEO Elon Musk, has occurred in recent months.

The protest is in connection to Musk’s role in shaping U.S. government policy and his role heading up the Department of Government Efficiency which is responsible for thousands of layoffs and terminations of government employees.

Millbank suggested anyone charging at these or other similar chargers exercise caution.

“I would suggest that if people are at all unsure, just to have a good look at the equipment they’re plugging into, probably stay with their cars if they’re getting their cars charged, or at least within Visual observation range, just so that they can be sure that, you know, they’re just being extra cautious

Anyone with information on the fire is asked to contact Nanaimo RCMP at 1-250-754 -2345.

Two stations remain offline, while another five are accessible following a fire on Saturday morning. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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