Moss Landing Battery Fire Triggers Shelter-in-Place Order

A Moss Landing battery fire reported shortly after 6:15 a.m. on September 18 prompted authorities to evacuate plant workers and order nearby Monterey County residents to shelter in place.

Fire officials said active flames were no longer visible by Friday afternoon, and the shelter-in-place order was lifted at 4 p.m. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that monitors detected no hydrogen fluoride and no exceedances of the federal PM2.5 standard during the incident, according to CBS News.

The fire occurred at the same Vistra-operated battery building damaged in January 2025 while federal regulators were overseeing removal of affected battery modules. The cause of the new incident remains under investigation, and early air-monitoring results do not resolve questions about localized exposure, equipment condition or the risk of additional flare-ups during cleanup.

Moss Landing battery fire activates cleanup response plan

CAL FIRE’s incident record confirms the September 18 start date and identifies the location as the Moss Landing Power Plant in Monterey County. The agency cautions that live incident information can change as field reports are reviewed.

CBS News reported that responding crews found smoke and fire on the north side of the facility. The North County Fire Protection District described the site as hot and smoldering later in the day, while plant employees were evacuated and residents in three nearby emergency zones were told to close windows and doors and switch off air systems.

The EPA said an agency-approved emergency response plan was activated when the flare-up began. That plan was developed as part of the continuing cleanup from the January 2025 fire. The regulator has been overseeing removal of battery modules under an agreement with Vistra.

The new incident occurred during removal of damaged batteries

The affected 300 MW battery system contained about 100,000 lithium-ion batteries before the 2025 fire, according to EPA information cited by CBS News. Approximately 55% were damaged in that event. California Assemblymember Dawn Addis said about 1,500 hard-to-access batteries remained in the damaged area when Friday’s incident occurred.

The September fire is a new emergency event, but it is connected to the earlier failure through the same building and remediation process. It should not be described as a newly commissioned battery project or as evidence that the entire Moss Landing power complex was burning. The site also contains a natural-gas power plant and a separate PG&E battery facility.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the incident was smaller and less complex than the January 2025 fire. Officials nevertheless warned that further flare-ups could remain possible until remediation is complete. The investigation had not established an ignition source as of the latest reports reviewed.

Air-monitoring results require careful interpretation

The EPA’s reported readings are important because lithium-ion battery fires can release irritating or hazardous combustion products. They support the decision to lift the immediate shelter order, but they should not be overstated as a final health assessment or proof that no contaminant was released at any time or location.

Battery fire response depends on system design, chemistry, state of charge, damaged-module access, ventilation and the ability to prevent propagation. Microgrid Media’s overview of fire safety in renewable energy provides broader context, while California’s expanding use of storage is examined separately in California’s solar-and-battery shift.

Cause and cleanup status remain unresolved

The next material disclosures should identify the ignition source, number and condition of affected modules, any changes to the removal plan, complete air and environmental sampling results, and whether investigators find shortcomings in isolation, monitoring or emergency procedures.

For now, the Moss Landing battery fire is best described as a contained flare-up during cleanup that triggered a precautionary shelter order. Immediate monitoring results were reassuring, but the recurrence keeps the condition of remaining batteries and the safety of the remediation process under scrutiny.