Jan. 17 (UPI) — Officials in Monterey County, Calif., ordered an evacuation around the Moss Landing Power Plant, which caught fire Thursday.
Authorities said that the cause of the fire at the battery plant, operated by Vistra, remained under investigation but worries over toxic fumes resulting from the blaze prompted the evacuation calls. Santa Cruz County and other nearby areas called on residents to keep their windows and doorsclosed.
Officials said the fire is not connected with any of the current spate of wildfires in Los Angeles or other parts of the state.
“Earlier this afternoon, Vistra personnel called for assistance from the North Monterey County Fire District after a fire was detected in the 300-MW Phase I energy storage facility at the Moss Landing Power Plant site,” the company said, according to KTVU-TV.
Vistra said all of its employees were evacuated and accounted for while the North County Fire Department took the lead in fighting the blaze.
The Moss Landing plant is located about 80 miles south of San Francisco. Inside, it has thousands of lithium batteries. The batteries are used for storing electricity generated from renewable sources like solar power.
The batteries have volatile electrolytes and can release dangerous flammable gases when exposed to physical damage and high temperatures.
In 2021, the same plant was involved in another incident where a malfunction caused damage to 7% of the batteries at the facility. An investigation found that the heat suppression system was accidentally triggered by low smoke from a faulty component.