A fire broke out at one of the world's largest battery storage plants in northern California on Friday, creating toxic smoke and prompting the evacuation of 1,700 people and closing a major highway.

The Moss Landing fire started Thursday. According to the Mercury News, firefighters did not participate in extinguishing the fire and waited for the fire to extinguish on its own.

Monterey County spokesman Nicholas Pasculli said the fire was still burning Friday and had not spread beyond the facility. As of late Thursday, several dozen people were in temporary evacuation centers, while the rest had gone to stay with friends or family or made other arrangements, Pasculli said.

County health officials warned residents Thursday night to "stay indoors, close doors and windows, limit outdoor exposure, and turn off ventilation systems."

The Moss Landing power plant, about 77 miles (125 kilometers) south of San Francisco and owned by Texas-based Vistra Corporation, houses tens of thousands of lithium batteries. Batteries are important for storing electricity from renewable sources such as solar energy, but if they catch fire, the fire can be extremely difficult to put out.

"There's no way to sugarcoat it. It's a disaster, that's what it is," Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church told KSBW-TV. But he said he didn't expect the fire to spread beyond the surrounding concrete buildings.

The county Board of Supervisors held an emergency meeting Friday morning to be briefed on the fire. "What I can update is that most of the fire was extinguished overnight," local fire chief Joel Mendoza said at a news conference.

Church, the county official, said at a news conference Friday that the fire was unacceptable. "This is really more than just a fire; this is really more than just a fire. This is really a wake-up call for the industry," Church said. “If we are going to advance sustainable energy, we need to have safe battery systems.

"This is the fourth fire at this location since 2019," he added. "There were two battery operations going on there, both fires, and this will certainly be the last one."

According to the Mercury News, fires occurred at Vistra factories in 2021 and 2022. The cause was a failure of the fire sprinkler system, which caused some units to overheat.

It's unclear what caused the latest fire. Vistra said in a statement that everyone at the scene was safely evacuated after the discovery. An investigation will begin after the fire is extinguished.

"Our top priority is the safety of our community and people, and Vistra is deeply grateful for the continued assistance of local emergency responders," Vistra spokesperson Jenny Lyon said in a statement.

The Northern Monterey County Unified School District announced that all schools and offices will be closed Friday due to the fire.