Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is suffering yet another stock decline as the company reports there has been yet another fire in one of its Model S vehicles. The stock has slipped by as much as 8 percent today. It is currently trading at $139.52, down $11.64 or about 8 percent.

Fires Plaguing The Model S

This is the third fire reported involving a Model S in just 6 weeks. Tesla just can’t seem to overcome these incidents and move on, as this fire took place in Smyrna, Tennessee.

Pictures of the vehicle, along with the story of the fire which happened on Wednesday, can be found on the Tesla Motors Club website. The town in Tennessee where the incident took place just happens to be the location of the Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (OP:NASNF)plant that manufactures the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle.

Tesla has confirmed that the fire took place and has announced that the company has been in touch with the driver of the car involved. The vehicle is registered to Juris Shibayama in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. However, it’s still unclear who was actually operating the vehicle when the incident happened.

Tesla’s spokeswoman, Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean, stated that Tesla is sending a team to determine the cause of the fire.

Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened in the accident. We will provide more information when we’re able to do so.”

I-24 #tesla #teslafire pic.twitter.com/ia9tbftn4V

— E (@NASHVILLAIN_) November 6, 2013

This Fire May Not Be Tesla’s Fault

According to the company, the fire was not caused by poor manufacturing. Instead, it is believed to be the result of an accident that happened around 1:30 pm on Wednesday. The Tennessee Highway Patrol has said that the car may have hit something.

It’s possible that it ran over a piece of metal in the roadway. There was extensive damage,” said Kathy Bryant, a dispatcher for the highway patrol.

Two Other Fires

The first fire that occurred with the Model S happened on October 1st not far from Seattle, Washington. The car collided with a large piece of metal that punctured the armor plating designed to protect the battery. According to regulators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there was no evidence of a defective vehicle.

Fire number two took place later in the month of October in Merida, Mexico. According to witnesses the car ran through a roundabout, took out a concrete wall, and then smashed into a tree.
Neither of the drivers were injured in the first two incidents. All three of the drivers involved in the incidents have requested replacement vehicles from Tesla.

Disclosure: Author has no position in any stocks mentioned, nor does he plan to initiate one in the next 48 hours.