Fire reignites at Moss Landing battery plant where massive blaze burned last year
Fire at Monterey Countys Moss Landing power plant escalates health concerns
A fire that broke out Friday morning at the Moss Landing power plant prompted a shelter-in-place order that has since been lifted. This is the same battery storage facility that burned for several days in January 2025. Neighbors are now concerned about the health and environmental impacts from the fire and smoke.
MOSS LANDING, Calif. - A fire broke out Friday morning at the Moss Landing Power Plant in Monterey County, prompting serious warnings from the fire district to go inside immediately.
The shelter-in-place order has since been lifted, but neighbors have plenty of concerns over health and environmental impacts after the fire. We've also learned that batteries that burned in a previous fire at this plant still have not been cleared from the facility.
Fire at Moss Landing power plant
What we know:
Fire at Moss Landing power plant in January 2025.
Flames and smoke were seen coming from the facility, located along Highway 1 between Santa Cruz and Monterey.
At 7 a.m., the North County Fire Protection District began advising people living near the power plant to keep their windows and doors closed and to shut off all air conditioning systems.
The shelter-in-place was ordered for anyone within a third of a mile of 7301 Highway 1. People living close to the plant were told by the fire district to go indoors immediately.
Anyone driving near the area was also told to leave, fire officials said.
At around 4 p.m. the Monterey County Sheriff's Office lifted the shelter-in-place order.
A hard closure of Dolan Road between Highway 1 and Via Tanques Road, implemented by the California Highway Patrol, was also lifted at around the same time.
Highway 1 currently remains open.
The backstory:
Fire at Moss Landing power plant in January 2025.
The facility previously experienced a significant incident in January 2025, when a fire broke out at its battery storage facility.
That blaze burned for days and damaged more than half of the site's 100,000 lithium-ion batteries.
Batteries were not cleared from previous fire
Authorities say Friday's fire started in the same building as the previous fire. Officials said the latest fire ignited batteries that crews had not been able to clear out.
"Just devastating," said California Assembly member Dawn Addis (D-Monterey). "It's devastating to again experience this."
There were about 1,500 modules sitting in the previously burned out building. Authorities were working on remediation for months but the remaining batteries were said to be hard to access.
Jess Cortez, division chief, fire prevention and fire marshal, said the remaining batteries spontaneously ignited Friday morning. "They were fully energized, so we actually had a generally good idea what the involvement could be," said Cortez.
Health concerns
What they're saying:
There are concerns that the heavy metal from the smoke may be dangerous.
Residents formed the group Never Again Moss Landing after the last fire and say the health effects are real.
"We know that when vaporized and inhaled by living creatures, they're incredibly toxic," said Brian Roeder with Never Again Moss Landing. "We know all of this. Where are the authorities?"
The Environmental Protection Agency and county officials say they've been monitoring air quality but say this fire and its impacts are much smaller than the previous fire.
"Basically, we're not seeing anything that indicates that there's a problem with air quality and result in exposure," said Richard Stedman, air pollution control officer for the Monterey Bay Air Resources District (MBARD).
Visrta, the company that operates the plant, says there are no answers yet about what caused either fire.
"We're still working through what was the cause of the original battery fire that occurred in January 2025," said Vistra plant manager Ron George.
For now, firefighters say they're monitoring the fire from a distance with drones.
"Rather than put firefighters in harm's way, dealing with something where there's just no value to it, we're choosing to allow it to burn itself out," said CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Josh Silviera.
One visitor to the area we spoke with said they planned on heading out as soon as they checked out some otters. They were hopeful no chemicals would affect their lungs.
Fire officials estimate that it could take 24 hours for the fire to burn itself out. However, that could change.
The Source: The information for this story came from the North County Fire Protection District, Monterey County Sheriff's Office, Caltrans camera, and prior reporting.