Tesla is facing nearly $50,000 in federal fines for alleged safety lapses after a worker died at the Austin gigafactory last year.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency that enforces workplace safety standards, found that Tesla did not provide proper protective equipment and allowed employees to work too closely to electric power circuits without warning.

The agency issued three citations of $16,550 each, labeling them “serious,” on Jan. 31. Reached for comment via email, an OSHA spokesman said the employer has contested the violations in this case.

What happened: U.S. Rep. Greg Casar said the fines resulted from OSHA’s investigation into the death of Victor Joe Gomez Sr., an electrician who died at the Tesla manufacturing plant on Aug. 1. In a lawsuit filed against the company, Gomez’s family says he was electrocuted while inspecting panels that should have been powered off.

After Reuters first reported last month that Tesla would be cited for Gomez’s death, Casar demanded the federal government release more details about the investigation and penalties.

The details made public now provide some additional information about alleged safety problems at the massive factory east of Austin.

Alerts and multiple evacuation orders in Hays County left people confused Tuesday as wildfires broke out across the region.

Initial push alerts and posts from the Hays County Sheriff's Office about a wildfire east of Buda didn't explicitly mention a fire, but referred to an “ongoing incident" and instructed people within a 3-mile radius to evacuate.

Toni Palmeri said he was 30 miles away in a restaurant when multiple phones started ringing with alerts to evacuate.

"We were all left to speculate on what the 'incident' was," said Palmeri, who lives near Dripping Springs. "A chemical explosion? Civil unrest? Who knows?"

A second fire, on the other side of I-35, began burning that same afternoon along Onion Creek in western Kyle.

Several county offices posted information about the fires on Facebook throughout the evening.

" It was just a perfect storm with fires in different portions of the county and evacuations suggested in different parts of the county," Hays County Sheriff Anthony Hipolito said.

In a statement, the sheriff's office said it's working to "improve the delivery of information in a timely, accurate, and consistent manner in the future."