Authorities in Monterey County, California, lifted all evacuations Friday night, a 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 are still advising residents near the Moss Landing Vistra power plant, located about 90 miles south of San Francisco, to limit outdoor exposure and keep doors and windows closed until further notice.
Friday evening's announcement came hours after the fire that started Thursday evening flared up again. The fire has caused the closure of a section of Coastal Highway 1, which is still closed 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 began sending flames and black smoke into the sky around 1:45 p.m.
Assemblyman Don Addis and Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church, who spoke at the earlier press conference, addressed the media after the flare-up and expressed safety concerns for their constituents.
“There have been three incidents here. There has been a PG&E incident. Now is the time to put a stop to this and take a breath and make sure we can reassure the public that they are safe,” Addis said. “This incident looks and feels completely different. It's a different configuration, the fire is different.”
However, by around 3 pm the flames once again subsided and the black smoke produced by the fire turned white.
Also on Friday afternoon, CBS News Bay Area obtained a statement from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding the fire at the Moss Landing facility.
“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 mobilized and arrived on scene. Additional EPA including four air monitoring specialists Personnel and equipment are currently en route. The fire is ongoing, and EPA Unified Command is involved. At this time, Unified Command is leading the fire. Is done by the department.
Evacuation and security decisions are being made by incident command. EPA is supporting local officials by gathering aerial monitoring data to help fire incident commands and local public health officials make those decisions. Please contact your local fire department for further information.”
The fire broke out around 3 p.m. Thursday at a power plant and battery facility operated by Texas-based Vistra Energy. The plant is a natural gas-fired power generation plant in Moss Landing, an unincorporated area of the county.
In a statement Thursday, Vistara said its personnel “requested assistance from the Northern Monterey County Fire District following a fire at the 300-MW Phase I energy storage facility at the Moss Landing Power Plant site.”
All personnel at the site have been evacuated safely, the release said. A company spokesperson said, “The cause of the fire is not yet known, but an investigation will be initiated once the fire is extinguished.”
“Our top priority is the safety of the community and our personnel, and Vistara 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 that came online in late 2020 and extended into 2023, becoming the world's largest fire at the time. according to energy storage newsWith possible exposure to toxic chemicals, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office began evacuating residents of the Prunedale and Elkhorn areas just east and north of the fire.
The fire is being allowed to burn out on its own and it is unknown how long the process will take.
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According to an update from the Monterey County Emergency Operations Center, “With no active fire suppression taking place, the batteries will burn out on their own. Water cannot be used. This is the standard course of action for a battery fire.”
“Just shoot,” Moss Landing resident Joel Bera told CBS News Bay Area. “There's all this and smoke. There's a lot of traffic here too. There was traffic about an hour ago and this guy told me they started evacuating the area.”
Nick Pasqualli, Monterey County communications director, said about 1,500 residents were evacuated.
In neighboring Santa Cruz County, public health officials were also advising residents to stay indoors, keep windows and doors closed, limit outdoor exposure and turn off ventilation systems after the incident. Residents are advised to monitor local news and social media for additional updates.
Some schools were closed due to the fire. Hartnell College Castroville Education Center announced it will be closed Friday out of concern for the safety of students and staff due to the fire.
North Monterey County Unified School District also decided to close all NMCUSD schools on Friday, citing health and safety concerns for students and staff.
Weather conditions favoring moss landing
One fortunate element on Thursday evening was the weather. In an area known for dense fog, the sky remained clear and calm for most of the night, allowing smoke from the fire to move up and out of the area.
“The weather is cooperating and I can only thank God for that,” Pasqualli said. “As you know what happened in Southern California, crazy things can happen, so we're fortunately not dealing with that.”
At a news conference Friday morning, Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church, who represents District 2 where the fire broke out, said. The incident was called “the worst-case scenario of the disaster”.
“This is really more than just a fire. This is really a wake-up call to this industry,” Church said. “And if we want to move forward with sustainable energy, we need safe battery systems.”
The church noted that its constituents have questions about how and why the fire started 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.
North County Fire Protection District Chief Joel Mendoza said the fire was largely extinguished by Friday morning, but video from the power plant showed the fire was still burning intensely and a plume of smoke was forming over the facility. Was.
Mendoza said the fire was burning at a rate of 1% to 5% on Friday morning compared to the intensity of the fire between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday.
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The last fire at the facility occurred in 2022. That was before Vistra Energy was massively expanding its energy storage capabilities.
Fire emergency services and hazmat crews were all at the scene, but Monterey CBS affiliate KION reported It appeared that those groups were letting the fire burn itself out. By 10:30 pm on Thursday, about 40% of the building's batteries had burned out.
Part of Highway 1 closed
CHP's Santa Cruz office announced that State Route 1 at Salinas Road has been closed due to the fire. Drivers are advised to avoid the area and use US Highway 101 as an alternate route. There is no estimated reopening time yet.
Northbound Highway 1 traffic was being directed through the Highway 183 junction and southbound traffic was being directed through Struve Road.
The County of Monterey Public Works also listed roads in effect closures 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 on Highway 1
*Residential entry only.
Andrea Nakano contributed to this story.