Battery fire at Summerside Sunbank solar farm triggers evacuation order

A fire broke out in the early hours at a battery storage unit forming part of the Summerside Sunbank solar power farm, a municipal solar facility owned and operated by the City of Summerside in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Emergency services contained the fire to a single battery unit within a multi-unit storage system rated up to five megawatts. Authorities issued a shelter-in-place order for nearby residents and a voluntary evacuation within a 500 metre radius, citing concerns over smoke and steam potentially carrying toxins, which were exacerbated by recent heavy rainfall and firefighting water application to the site. A reception centre was opened for displaced residents. Fire crews used thermal drones to monitor hotspots and maintained a rotating on-site presence for over a day. Because battery fires cannot be extinguished with direct water application, crews allowed the affected unit to burn out while monitoring for spread. The fire did not spread to adjacent batteries or electrical infrastructure, and no interruption to grid power supply was expected.

Recent heavy rainfall combined with firefighting water application increased ambient smoke and steam, prompting a precautionary shelter-in-place order; root cause of the battery fire itself was not reported.

1. Battery energy storage fires require specialised response protocols since water cannot be applied directly to extinguish them, and crews may need to let cells burn out under controlled monitoring.
2. Shelter-in-place and evacuation planning around battery storage sites should account for smoke and steam hazards, which can be worsened by wet weather conditions.
3. Early detection and containment measures can successfully prevent fire propagation from a single unit to adjacent battery modules and site electrical infrastructure.
4. Use of thermal drone monitoring and rotational crew staffing supports sustained situational awareness during extended incident response.

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