More than 1,000 people are being evacuated after a blaze broke out in one of the largest battery storage facilities in the world on Thursday night prompting a full scale mobilization of firefighters across several counties in Northern California, according to local authorities.
Towering flames were visible from afar as a large black column of smoke rose from the Moss Landing power plant, with the fire showing no signs of easing in the early hours of Friday. It was first reported around 3pm local time.
The fire is located in the northern part of the sate some 300 miles (500 km) north of the wildfires in Los Angeles. The plant contains tens of thousands of lithium batteries, which can be extremely difficult to put out if they go up in flames.
“There’s no way to sugar coat it. This is a disaster, is what it is,” Monterey County supervisor Glenn Church told KSBW-TV. But the fire is not expected to spread beyond the concrete building it is enclosed in, he added. Highway 1, located nearby, has been shut down by authorities.
The plant is around 100 miles (160 km) south of San Francisco, and the blaze is unrelated to the ongoing wildfires in the southern Californian city of Los Angeles, which started around 10 days ago and have killed at least 27 people.
The cause of the fire is currently unclear, said a statement from the factory’s owners, Texas-based company Vistra Energy. Around 1,500 people were successfully evacuated from the building, according to The Mercury News.
All schools and offices in the North Monterey County Unified School District would be closed on Friday due to the fire.
”It’s imperative that residents heed the evacuation order and take the direction of law enforcement and fire personnel. This is a situation where we take the idea of protecting life and property very seriously. We implore people to heed the evacuation order and to go to a safe location,” Monterey County spokesman Nicholas Pasculli said.
“It’s a major incident. All the resources in the county and our neighboring jurisdictions have been deployed to assist with this incident,” he added.
“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.
The company will open an investigation into the causes of the fire once the blaze is brought under control.
Vistra plants also suffered fires in 2021 and 2022 which were caused by a fire sprinkler system malfunction, causing some units to overheat, The Mercury News reported.
Vistra Energy is the largest power generator in the U.S. The company is listed on the Fortune 500. In 2020, a study found that Vistra was the highest CO2 emitter in the country.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory in November, Vistra CEO James Burke was quoted as saying that the new administration may impact greenhouse gas regulations, giving the company’s fossil fuel divisions “extended life.” This past December, The Economist named Burke as one of the best CEOs in the U.S. in 2024.
