A fire in the world’s largest lithium battery storage plant in northern California continued to burn on Friday, releasing toxic smoke into the atmosphere. It prompted the evacuation of around 1,700 people and the closure of a major highway.
The world‘s largest lithium battery facility at Vistra Power Plant in Moss Landing, CA continues to burn.
Officials have no timeline for extinguishing the toxic blaze, but for reference the last lithium battery fire in California burned for 11 days pic.twitter.com/Cwignva06F
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) January 17, 2025
According to the Associated Press (AP), the fire at the Vistra Energy lithium battery plant in Moss Landing started on Thursday. However, the fire crews are waiting for it to burn out. Reportedly, letting lithium-ion battery fires burn out is not unusual because they burn very hot and are hard to put out.
However, the local fire chief, Joel Mendoza that most of that fire burned out through the night on Friday, as per The Guardian.
The blaze did not spread beyond the facility, according to Monterey County spokesperson Nicholas Pasculli. No injuries have been reported but residents raised concerns about hazardous gases being released into the air.
Due to the smoke, Monterey County health officials warned residents late on Thursday “to stay indoors, keep windows and doors closed, limit outdoor exposure, and turn off ventilation systems”, as per a report by The Guardian.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hydrogen fluoride gas can irritate the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs and nose, and that too much exposure to the gas can be deadly, as per AP.
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While the fire is nowhere near the Los Angeles-area wildfires, the aftermath at the facility—located about 160 kilometres south of San Francisco – was just starting to unfold.
“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,” Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church said at a Friday morning briefing, as per AP.
Battery storage is essential for supplying clean electricity to the grid when solar or wind power is unavailable and has only been deployed in significant quantities in recent years. However, most batteries are lithium-based, which are prone to “thermal runaway,” a condition where they can catch fire, burn intensely, and release toxic gases.
Vistra sells energy to Pacific Gas & Electric, one of the nation’s largest utilities.
