This image from video shows a major fire rising Thursday afternoon at the Moss Landing power plant, about 77 miles south of San Francisco. KSBW/AP hide title
MOS LANDING, Calif. — Hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate and a portion of Northern California's Highway 1 was closed early Friday after a major fire at one of the world's largest battery storage plants.
About 1,500 people were ordered to leave the Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough areas after the blaze started Thursday afternoon, sending towering flames and black smoke, the Mercury News reported.
Monterey County spokesman Nicholas Pasculli said the fire was still burning early Friday and was somewhat contained 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.
The Moss Landing power plant, located about 77 miles (about 124 kilometers) south of San Francisco and owned by Texas-based Vistra Energy, contains 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 just a disaster," Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church told KSBW-TV, but said he didn't expect the fire to spread beyond the surrounding concrete buildings.
The county Board of Supervisors plans to hold an emergency meeting Friday morning to be briefed on the fire.
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 equipment 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.