California: Hundreds evacuated after a fire broke out at a battery storage factory

Hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate in Northern California, United States, after a huge fire broke out in one of the largest battery storage factories in the world yesterday afternoon, Thursday.

Urgent evacuation orders

Flames and black smoke rose into the sky by Thursday evening, with no sign that the fire could subside, and about 1,500 people were ordered to leave Moss Landing and the corn slaw area, according to The Mercury News.

The Texas-based company owns the Moss Landing Power plant, which is located about 124 kilometers south of San Francisco, and contains tens of thousands of lithium batteries. It is very difficult to put out a fire if batteries catch fire.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Vistra said in a statement that after the fire was detected, everyone on site was safely evacuated. Fires occurred at the Vistra plant during 2021 and 2022 due to a defect in the fire sprinkler system that resulted in some units overheating, according to The Mercury News.