The fire department in Tijuana, Mexico got a strange call last week: Not only was a hilltop home on fire, but the Tesla parked next to it was burning too. The department has never dealt with an EV fire before, but is trained in them. Once they had the flames under control, it became obvious the charging car had started the fire. Authorities were left with a bizarre series of questions.

First and foremost, thankfully no one was in either the car or the house. The fire department’s quick response prevented the flames from leaping to adjoining buildings. There were no known injuries from the incident.

Reports are saying the Tesla Model S was plugged directly into the city’s power grid. What I assume that means is a Level 2 AC charging box was plugged into an illegal drop on a power pole. Obviously this isn’t how Tesla recommends you charge your car. But splicing in the power grid isn’t uncommon in Mexico.

In fact, an outlaw outlet on a utility pole is so common in Mexico it has a Spanish name: diablito or “little devil.” Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission loses roughly $2.5 billion in electricity theft every year. To set these outlets up, locals must climb a power pole and connect wires to the power lines. This allows them to circumvent the meters and use electricity for free.

Note that there is far too much of the Model S left after the fire for its battery to have burned. What is more likely is that it drew so much power, the outlaw power outlet caught fire and flames spread to both the car and the house.

You can see images and video of the burning Tesla embedded below (video in Spanish).

So a Tijuana resident bought a Tesla Model S, plugged it into a diablito they had set up at their house, then burned their house down? Probably not.

Multiple Mexican news outlets reported that this Tesla belonged to a tourist. What’s bizarre is that the house that burned down doesn’t look like an Airbnb vacation home. It is more like a concrete shack in the bad part of town.

So a U.S. citizen drove their Tesla Model S into Mexico and just across the border in Tijuana they went searching for an illegal but free power outlet? Maybe. Then when their EV caught fire they made a break for it? Not very likely.

If the outlaw outlet in question looked like a regular 110-volt wall plug, the Tesla’s owner would have assumed their car would be charging all night. I can’t imagine needing free power so badly that you were willing to leave your Tesla in some random Tijuana neighborhood overnight.

We’ll just have to wait for more details to emerge. But in the meantime, one thing is crystal clear. It’s not a great idea to plug your EV directly into the power grid. No matter where in the world you are.