This image from video shows flames rising after a major fire erupted Thursday afternoon at the Moss Landing Power Plant, located about 77 miles (about 124 kilometers) south of San Francisco, Thursday, Jan.16, 2025. (KSBW via AP)
AP
One of the world’s largest lithium battery plants went up in flames on Thursday, prompting evacuations and warnings to stay inside to avoid noxious fumes in Monterey County. “There’s no way to sugar coat it,” Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church told KSBW. “This is a disaster.”
The Moss Landing Power Plant, located about 90 miles south of San Francisco, caught fire Thursday afternoon, prompting evacuation orders for the nearby area and the closure of Highway 1. Road closures and evacuations are still in place as of Friday morning and can be found on Monterey County’s emergency alert feed.
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Beyond the evacuation zone, county officials are asking a wide swath of the region to “stay indoors, keep windows and doors closed, limit outdoor exposure, and turn off ventilation systems.” North Monterey County Unified School District said all schools will be closed Friday due to the fire.
The facility is owned by Texas company Vistra Energy and contains tens of thousands of lithium batteries. The batteries are important for storing electricity from such renewable energy sources as solar energy, but if they go up in flames the blazes can be extremely difficult to put out. This is not the first incident at the Moss Landing plant; in 2022, two battery malfunctions occurred in a five-month span, resulting in battery racks melting.
A fire erupted at the Vistra power plant in Moss Landing on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.
Photos courtesy of Alekz Londos
The blaze was still burning early Friday with some containment and it had not gone beyond the facility, according to Monterey County spokesperson Nicholas Pasculli. A Monterey County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told KSBW that 40% of the plant has burned; the outlet also reported that firefighters are waiting for the fire to burn itself out.
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In a statement, Vistra Energy said the cause of the fire is currently unknown, and an investigation will begin once the blaze is put out.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jan 17, 2025|Updated Jan 17, 2025 6:19 a.m.
