Moss Landing battery plant fire continues to burn, evacuations lifted
MOSS LANDING, Calif. - Evacuation orders for hundreds of residents in Monterey County were lifted Friday evening after a section of Highway 1 was closed because of the fire that erupted at a battery storage plant in Moss Landing one day earlier.
Moss Landing Power Plant
What we know:
The fire at Moss Landing Power Plant, one of the world's largest lithium battery storage facilities, started around 3 p.m. Thursday, sending plumes of black smoke into the air. About 1,200 people were ordered to evacuate the town and the Elkhorn Slough area. Monterey County officials said the evacuation zone covers more than 7,600 acres.
The evacuation order was lifted at 6 p.m. on Friday. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said they conducted cooperative air quality monitoring with environmental agencies and according to their data, they said there is no threat to human health. However, agencies continue to monitor the situation.
The huge flames and significant amounts of smoke exhibited on Thursday had diminished significantly by Friday, Fire Chief Joel Mendoza of the North County Fire Protection District of Monterey County said.
"There’s very little, if any, of a plume emitting from that building," Mendoza said. Crews are not engaging with the fire and are waiting for it to burn out, he said. Letting lithium ion battery fires burn out is not unusual because they burn very hot and are hard to put out.
This is the second fire at the plant since it opened five years ago.
No injuries have been reported but residents raised concerns about hazardous gases being released into the air.
Vistra Energy
What they're saying:
The Moss Landing Power Plant is owned by Texas-based company Vistra Energy and contains tens of thousands of lithium batteries. The batteries are important for storing electricity from such renewable energy sources as solar energy, but if they go up in flames the blazes can be extremely difficult to put out.
What we don't know:
It was unclear what caused this latest fire. Vistra said in a statement that after it was detected, everyone at the site was evacuated safely. An investigation will begin once the fire is out.
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Moss Landing fire map: Evacuation zones
Residents in several communities in Monterey County were ordered to evacuate after an explosion at the Moss Landing Power Plant on Thursday.
"Our top priority is the safety of the community and our personnel, and Vistra deeply appreciates the continued assistance of our local emergency responders," Jenny Lyon, a spokesperson for Vistra, said in a statement.
A ‘disaster’
Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church told KSBW-TV the fire was a "disaster."
"There’s no way to sugarcoat it. This is a disaster, is what it is," he said. He did not expect the fire to spread beyond the concrete building it was enclosed in.
At a Friday morning briefing, he called the incident a wake-up call for the battery storage industry.
"This is more than a fire, this a wake-up call for the industry. If we’re going to be moving ahead with sustainable energy, we need to have a safe battery system in place," he said.
Fire at Moss Landing Power Plant prompts evacuation orders in Monterey County
A fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant has triggered evacuation orders in Monterey County. It is unclear how the battery facility fire started. There are concerns about toxic fumes in the air. Residents as far as Santa Cruz County are being told to keep windows and doors closed and to limit outdoor exposure.
The county Board of Supervisors planned an emergency meeting Friday morning to provide an update on the fire along with fire and sheriff's officials. KTVU will stream the public portion of the session at 8:30 a.m.
The North Monterey County Unified School District announced that all schools and offices would be closed Friday due to the fire.
Previous fires
Dig deeper:
There were fires at the Vistra plant in 2021 and 2022 caused by a fire sprinkler system malfunction that resulted in some units overheating. The blaze in 2022 was at a PG&E substation in the same area where Tesla charges its batteries.
"There have been fires in the past...nothing to this extent," Church said.
The fire that broke out Thursday occurred at the Moss Landing Power Plant, not the PG&E Tesla Megapack facility.
What is battery storage?
Dig deeper:
Battery storage is considered crucial for feeding clean electricity onto the grid when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing, and it has been used in significant amounts only in the last couple of years. But the batteries are nearly all lithium, which has a tendency toward "thermal runaway," meaning it can catch fire and burn very hot, releasing toxic gases.
Vistra sells energy to Pacific Gas & Electric, one of the nation’s largest utilities.
The Source: This story was reported based on information from Monterey County officials and a spokesperson for Vistra Energy. The Associated Press also contributed to the report.