It’s California’s other fire flashpoint.
Even as the City of Angels grapples with ongoing wildfires that have devastated some of the most expensive residential neighbourhoods in the world, firefighters in the Golden State were trying to extinguish a major blaze at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants in Monterey County.
The fire started late Thursday afternoon, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,500 people in the Elkhorn Slough area near Moss Landing, located about 110 kilometres south of San Francisco just off the #1 Pacific Coast Highway. It was still raging Friday morning, although it had been contained to the plant site.
The Moss Landing plant reportedly contains tens of thousands of lithium power cells used to store energy from renewable sources such as solar power.
It was unclear what caused the blaze, but fires at an adjacent plant in 2021 and 2022 were caused by a malfunctioning sprinkler system that caused units to overheat, according to Santa Cruz television station KSBW.
"Our top priority is the safety of the community and our personnel, and Vistra deeply appreciates the continued assistance of our local emergency responders," a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Lithium ion fires are notoriously hard to put out, requiring large amounts of water mist and time to fully extinguish.
Pure lithium metal actually ignites in the presence of water. Although modern batteries use a lithium salt electrolyte, the US-based National Fire Protection Association notes that lithium-ion fires put out with plain water have a history of re-ignition and does not mitigate flammable gases and explosive vapours, jeopardizing the the safety of civilians and first responders.