A major fire at a battery storage facility in Moss Landing, northern Monterey County, on Thursday afternoon, prompted the closure of Highway 1 and evacuation orders for the Moss Landing community and the Elkhorn Slough area.
The fire, reported around 3 p.m. Thursday at a battery storage facility on Highway 1 in Moss Landing, continued to rage out of control into the night, producing massive flames and thick clouds of hazardous black smoke, according to Monterey County spokesman Nicholas Pasculli.
"An evacuation order is not a suggestion," Pasculli told KSBW TV. "It's really important that people do comply with that order for their safety. The county and all our partners are throwing every resource behind this incident that we have. People need to remain calm in this situation and everybody will get through it."
Evacuations affecting approximately 1,500 residents were ordered for areas of Moss Landing south of Elkhorn Slough, north of Molera Road and Monterey Dunes Way, and west of Castroville Boulevard and Elkhorn Road to the ocean.
Pasculli noted that the Monterey County Sheriff's Department has called on additional agencies in the region to assist with the emergency response.
The facility at the center of the fire, owned by Texas-based Vistra Energy, is one of the largest battery storage plants globally. It houses tens of thousands of lithium batteries designed to store electricity from renewable sources like solar power for nighttime use. Such plants are integral to California's push toward transitioning most of its electricity generation to renewable energy.
This is not the first time the Moss Landing facility experienced an incident of fire.
On Sept. 4, 2021, and Feb. 14, 2022, fires broke out at the Vistra plant due to a malfunction in the fire sprinkler system. The system inadvertently released water, causing several battery units to overheat.
Another fire occurred in September 2022 at the nearby PG&E Elkhorn battery plant. This incident prompted a 12-hour closure of Highway 1. An investigation revealed the cause was an improperly installed vent shield on one of the 256 units, which allowed rainwater to enter and short-circuit the batteries. Fortunately, there were no injuries to firefighters, PG&E employees, or the public during that event.
