Residents in Monterey County, California, are being urged to close their windows after a fire broke out at the Vistra Energy lithium-ion battery storage facility near the Moss Landing Harbor.

Newsweek has contacted North Monterey County Fire for comment via email.

Why It Matters

Smoke poses serious health hazards, especially when it contains fine particulate matter and toxic chemicals. Prolonged exposure increases the risk of respiratory infections and long-term lung damage. Wildfire and industrial smoke can also contain carcinogens, posing additional long-term health risks. Vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly, and those with preexisting conditions, are particularly at risk.

What To Know

According to a notice posted to the Monterey County website on Tuesday, a fire at the Vistra Energy Facility was emitting "light smoke."

The Vistra Energy Facility is one of the world's largest lithium battery plants.

Due to the smoke, authorities urged residents to "close windows and doors overnight."

"Out of an abundance of caution, safety agencies urge residents to close windows and doors overnight," the notice read.

An earlier message sent via the county's alert system at 8:37 p.m. said that the smoke was coming from a section of the facility hit by a massive fire in January, which prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents due to unknown hazards posed by the smoke.

The fire grew out of control when the facility's internal fire suppression system failed. Four residents are now suing Vistra Energy, as well as LG Energy Solution, which installed the lithium-ion batteries at the facility; and Pacific Gas & Electric, which owns an adjacent battery storage facility, over the fire.

Lithium battery fires are highly dangerous due to their intense heat, toxic fumes, and risk of explosion. Once ignited, lithium-ion batteries can enter a self-sustaining cycle called thermal runaway, causing rapid temperature increases and making the fire difficult to extinguish. These fires release hazardous gases, including hydrogen fluoride and carbon monoxide, which pose serious health risks if inhaled.

However, Monterey County, said Tuesday's fire did not appear to be burning undamaged batteries still at the site that had not burned during January's fire.

Lithium battery fires can reignite hours or even days after appearing to be extinguished. Monterey County Fire Chief Juan Mendoza said that a group of batteries reignited, KSBW reported.

He later confirmed that the fire "eventually burned out [Wednesday, February 19] morning roughly around eight o'clock."

There are two separate facilities at the site, which is a former PG&E power plant. One is owned by Vistra Energy, while the other is owned by PG&E. In September 2022, a fire broke out at the PG&E facility, resulting in a hazardous materials response from the county and a shelter in place order for nearby residents.

What People Are Saying

Eric Sandusky, U.S. EPA OnScene Coordinator, said: "During this fire, everything was all set up and running as expected. We have data from the incident and throughout the incident we were monitoring it pretty much consistently so that we could keep the public health, county public health and the fire chief up to date on any relevant information for evacuations and whatnot. And reviewing that data, we did not see any sustained readings above the moderate air quality index level throughout the entire incident. So at this time, we have not seen any indication of adverse health effects to the public."

Ric Encarnacion, Monterey County Director of Environmental Health, confirmed on Wednesday: "There's been constant monitoring. The EPA has conducted air quality monitoring in the evacuations and in the zones, and no readings have indicated any significant public health impact. MBARD, our Monterey Bay Air Resource District, has reviewed the smoke sensor data. Air quality has remained in the good range for the past 24 hours."

What Happens Next

Authorities are continuing to monitor the situation, and community air particulate matter and metals monitoring are ongoing, according to Monterey County.

Updated 2/21/2025, 5:38 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.