Overview
- Emergency crews responded after a fire was reported early Friday morning and plant personnel were evacuated while nearby residents were told to shelter in place as a precaution.
- Officials said roughly 1,500 fully energized battery modules along the facility’s north wall spontaneously ignited inside a structure already damaged in the January 2025 blaze and were smoldering rather than producing a large, active conflagration by midday.
- No injuries were reported and air monitors deployed by the EPA and the Monterey Bay Air Resources District had not detected PM2.5 or hydrogen fluoride above health screening levels at the noon briefing.
- The U.S. EPA is overseeing cleanup work that has already removed nearly 40,000 intact batteries, but crews say hard‑to‑access and damaged charged units remain on site and the full remediation is expected to run through mid‑2027.
- The incident has renewed local concern and political scrutiny over large-scale battery storage safety as regulators continue investigations and communities press for clearer safeguards and faster answers.