by Will Jones, Daily Sceptic:
A massive fire has broken out in one of the world’s largest battery storage facilities containing tens of thousands of lithium batteries, prompting a full scale mobilisation of firefighters across several counties in Northern California. The Independent has the story.
Towering flames were visible from afar as a large black column of smoke rose from the Moss Landing power plant, with the fire showing no signs of easing in the early hours of Friday. It was first reported around 3pm local time.
The fire is located in the northern part of the sate some 300 miles (500 km) north of the wildfires in Los Angeles. The plant contains tens of thousands of lithium batteries, which can be extremely difficult to put out if they go up in flames.
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“There’s no way to sugar coat it. This is a disaster, is what it is,” Monterey County supervisor Glenn Church told KSBW-TV. But the fire is not expected to spread beyond the concrete building it is enclosed in, he added. Highway 1, located nearby, has been shut down by authorities.
The plant is around 100 miles (160 km) south of San Francisco, and the blaze is unrelated to the ongoing wildfires in the southern Californian city of Los Angeles, which started around 10 days ago and have killed at least 27 people.
The cause of the fire is currently unclear, said a statement from the factory’s owners, Texas-based company Vistra Energy. Around 1,500 people were successfully evacuated from the building, according to the Mercury News. …
Vistra plants also suffered fires in 2021 and 2022 which were caused by a fire sprinkler system malfunction, causing some units to overheat, the Mercury News reported.
