- A fire broke out at California’s Moss Landing Power Plant on Thursday.
- The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office urged residents near the plant to evacuate.
- 40% of the battery plant has burned, according to a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson.
A major fire has broken out at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants, located in California.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said the North County Fire Protection District was responding to a fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant in an X post on Thursday.
Out of an “abundance” of caution, it urged residents in nearby areas to close windows and doors, shut off air systems until further notice, and avoid the area so that emergency vehicles could respond.
A few hours later, it issued evacuation orders for areas of the plant and shut down parts of California’s Highway 1.
A Monterey County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told KSBW 8 that 40% of the battery plant had burned.
A law enforcement spokesperson told CNN that efforts were being made to limit the fire, and the incident was not related to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
They said the fire broke out at about 3 p.m. local time, and that evacuation orders were issued at 6:30 p.m. due to concerns about hazardous materials and potential chemical spills.
Over 2,000 individuals were instructed to evacuate, they added.
Neither Vistra Energy, the plant’s owner, nor the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office specified the cause of the fire, and they didn’t respond to Business Insider requests for comments made outside working hours.
Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church told KSBW-TV that this was the “worst-case scenario” and a “very severe” situation. But he said he didn’t expect the fire to spread beyond the concrete building it was enclosed in.
Even so, “there’s no way to sugarcoat it,” he added. “This is a disaster.”
The National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area said heat signature could be seen in satellite imagery.
Jenny Lyon, a spokesperson for Vistra Energy, told Politico that the cause of the fire has yet to be identified but that an inquiry would begin once it’s extinguished.
In a press release announcing the plant’s expansion in 2023, Texas-based Vistra Energy said it was one of the world’s largest battery storage plants.
It’s not the first time the facility has experienced fires, power outages, or technical issues. In 2015, a transmission tower at the power plant collapsed, resulting in a significant power outage.
A failing heat detector also caused damage to the battery complex in 2021, and in 2022 a fire broke out at a nearby Pacific Gas & Electric-owned battery plant.
North Monterey County Unified School District said all of the county’s schools and offices would be closed on Friday due to the fire.
Thursday’s fire comes as wildfires across Los Angeles area have ravaged over 40,000 acres and killed at least 25 people.
AccuWeather has put the total estimated cost of the LA wildfires at $250 and $275 billion.
This is a developing story. Please check for updates.
