A protection system for a battery system includes a battery control module configured to selectively open at least one contactor to isolate the battery system from a load in response to a sensed current being greater than a first threshold and within a first current range, at least one fuse connected between first and second terminals of the battery system and configured to open to isolate the battery system from the load in response to the sensed current being greater than a second threshold and within a second current range that is greater than and offset from the first current range, and an auxiliary protection module configured to selectively form a short circuit between first and second terminals in response to the sensed current being greater than the first threshold, less than the second threshold, and within a coverage gap region between the first and second current ranges.