California: Massive fire erupts at major battery plant
A fire has erupted at a battery storage facility in the US state of California, one of the largest in the world, triggering the evacuation of hundreds of people.
Vistra Energy, which owns the natural gas-fueled Moss Landing Power Plant and adjoining lithium-ion battery facility on the Monterey County coast, said a fire had broken out in one of its batteries on Thursday afternoon.
The company added that it had evacuated on-site personnel.
“The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but an investigation will begin once the fire is extinguished,” Jenny Lyon, a spokesman for Vistra, said.
Firefighters are not engaging the fire and are waiting for it to burn out on its own, KSBW8 news reported on Friday, noting that it is unknown how long the fire will last.
The fire triggered the closure of three road, including Highway 1, and Monterey County spokesman Nicholas Pasculli said evacuations of nearly 1,500 people were ordered for several areas.
The Moss Landing Power Plant contains tens of thousands of lithium batteries, which are important for storing electricity from such renewable energy sources as solar energy. If the batteries go up in flames, the blazes can be extremely difficult to extinguish.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it. This is a disaster, is what it is,” Monterey County Supervisor Glen Church told KSBW-TV, noting that the fire is not expected to spread beyond the concrete building it is enclosed in.
Thursday’s fire was the latest to engulf the Vistra plant. In 2021 and 2022, blazes were sparked in Moss Landing battery complex caused by a malfunction in a fire sprinkler system that resulted in some units overheating.
The blaze, which is located in Northern California, is reportedly unrelated to the ongoing wildfires in the southern Californian city of Los Angeles, which erupted earlier this month.
Fires across the Los Angeles area have killed at least 27 people, destroyed more than 12,000 structures and charred more than 60 square miles. The Palisades and Eaton wildfires continue to burn today. Officials said tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles County remain under evacuation orders.
Los Angeles inferno exacerbates housing shortage crisis
How Los Angeles’ pistachio tycoons facilitated and profited from wildfires
Trump: Los Angeles wildfire damages ‘greater’ than nuclear attack
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
UN chief says Israel must end occupation of south Lebanon
VIDEO | Iranians celebrate Gaza ceasefire in Tehran
VIDEO | Israel funds settler farms in West Bank
Russia expects no major change in US sanctions policy under Trump
US Supreme Court upholds TikTok Ban
VIDEO | Bone Marrow Transplantation
Yemen conducts 4 retaliatory operations against Israeli, US targets
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
