Authorities in Monterey County, California lifted all evacuations Friday night, one day after a fire broke out at one of the world’s largest lithium battery storage facilities.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office made the announcement shortly after 6 p.m. local time. Health officials still advised residents near the Moss Landing Vistra Power Plant, located about 90 miles south of San Francisco, to limit outdoor exposure and to keep doors and windows closed until further notice.
Friday evening’s announcement comes hours after the fire, which began early Thursday evening, flared up again. The fire closed a portion of coastal Highway 1 that remains shut down to traffic as the fire continues to burn.
CBS News Bay Area
Monterey County officials held a second press conference Friday afternoon after the latest flare-up at around 1:45 p.m. produced another round of flames and black smoke shooting into the sky.
Assemblymember Dawn Addis and Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church, who spoke at the earlier press conference, addressed the media after the flare-up and voicing safety concerns for their constituents.
“There’s been three incidents here. There’s been the PG&E incident. It’s really time to put a stop to it and take a breath and make sure that we can assure the public they’re safe,” said Addis. “This incident does look and feel very different. It’s a different configuration, the fire is different.”
However, by around 3 p.m., the flames had once again subsided and the black smoke being produced by the fire turned white.
Also on Friday afternoon, CBS News Bay Area obtained a statement from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding the Moss Landing facility fire.
“Last night, the Monterey Fire Department requested EPA technical assistance to provide perimeter air monitoring at the Vistra Moss Landing Power Plant in Moss Landing, Monterey County. EPA and contractors were mobilized and arrived on scene. Additional EPA personnel, including four air monitoring specialists, and equipment are currently en route. The fire is ongoing, and EPA has joined Unified Command. At this time, Unified Command is led by the City of Monterey’s Fire Department.
Evacuation and safety decisions are being made by the Incident Command. EPA is supporting the local authorities by gathering air monitoring data to help the fire Incident Command and local public health officials those decisions. Please reach out to the local fire department for more information.”
The fire started at around 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon at a power plant and battery facility operated by Texas-based Vistra Energy. The plant is a natural gas-powered electricity generation plant in Moss Landing, an unincorporated area of the county.
In a statement Thursday, Vistra said its personnel “called for assistance from the North Monterey County Fire District after a fire was detected in the 300-MW Phase I energy storage facility at the Moss Landing Power Plant site.”
The release said all site personnel were safely evacuated. A company spokesperson said, “The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but an investigation will begin once the fire is extinguished.”
“Our top priority is the safety of the community and our personnel, and Vistra deeply appreciates the continued assistance of our local emergency responders,” the statement said.
The fire began in the plant’s first lithium-ion battery energy storage system which went online at the end of 2020 and was expanded in 2023, becoming the world’s largest at the time, according to Energy Storage News. With the possible exposure to toxic chemicals, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office started evacuating residents in the Prunedale and Elkhorn area, just east and north of the fire.
The fire is being allowed to burn itself out and it was unknown how long that process would take.
KION
“No active fire suppression is taking place, the batteries must burn themselves out. No water can be used. This is standard action for battery fires,” according to an update from the Monterey County Emergency Operations Center.
“Just fire,” Moss Landing resident Joel Bera told CBS News Bay Area. “That’s all and smoke. A lot of traffic here too. There was traffic about an hour ago and this guy told me they started to evacuate this area.”
Monterey County Communications Director Nick Pasculli said roughly 1,500 residents were evacuated.
In neighboring Santa Cruz County, public health officials there were also advising residents downwind of the incident to stay indoors, keep windows and doors closed, limit outdoor exposure, and turn off ventilation systems. Residents are additionally advised to monitor local news and social media for additional updates.
The fire led to some school closures. Hartnell College Castroville Education Center announced it would be closed Friday due to the fire out of safety to students and staff.
North Monterey County Unified School District also made the decision to close all NMCUSD schools Friday, citing health and safety concerns for students and staff.
Weather conditions helping in Moss Landing
The one fortunate element Thursday evening was the weather. In an area known for heavy fog, it’s been clear and still for most of the night, allowing the smoke from the fire to go up and out of the area.
“The weather is cooperating, and all I can say is thank God for that,” said Pasculli. “Wind as you know what happened in Southern California can do crazy things, so we’re not dealing with that fortunately.”
At a press conference Friday morning, Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church, who represents District 2 where the fire took place, called the incident “a worst-case scenario of a disaster.”
“This is really a lot more than just a fire. This is really a wake up call for this industry,” said Church. “And if we’re going to be moving ahead with sustainable energy, we need to have safe battery systems in place.”
Church went on to note that his constituents have questions about how and why the fire happened and promised accountability and transparency when it comes to information about the fire and its impacts.
Church also noted that the facility is at the mouth of Elkhorn Slough, an environmentally sensitive wetland.
Chief Joel Mendoza of the North County Fire Protection District said that the fire was largely out as of Friday morning, but video from the power plant showed that the fire was still burning intensely and producing a column of smoke above the facility.
Mendoza said the fire was burning at a rate of 1% to 5% Friday morning compared to the height of the fire between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday night.
KPIX
The last fire at the facility was back in 2022. That was before Vistra Energy went through a major expansion to its energy storage capabilities.
Fire emergency services and hazmat crews were all present at the scene, but Monterey CBS affiliate KION reported that those crews appeared to be letting the fire burn itself out. As of 10:30 p.m. Thursday, approximately 40% of the building containing batteries had burned.
Portion of Highway 1 closed
The Santa Cruz office of the CHP announced that State Route 1 has been shut down at Salinas Road because of the fire. Drivers are advised to avoid the area and use U.S. Highway 101 as an alternate route. There was no estimated time of reopening as of .
Northbound Highway 1 traffic was being directed off from the Highway 183 junction with southbound traffic being directed off Struve Road.
County of Monterey Public Works has also listed road closures that are in effect around the Moss Landing area including:
1.516 Dolan Road (Pick-n-Pull)
2. Highway 1 at Struve Road
3. Highway 1 at Potrero Road
4. Moss Landing Road North at Highway 1
*Residential access only.
Andrea Nakano contributed to this story.
