Lead-acid BESS container explodes at RV park in Rio Dell, California
EIR-0684Provisional entry. Confirmed: an explosion involving a four-year-old lead-acid battery storage container at an RV park in Rio Dell, California, on 3 August 2022, as logged by EPRI. Not yet known: capacity, cause, damage, and whether anyone was hurt. Next update: 13 September 2026.
The EPRI BESS Failure Incident Database records that on 3 August 2022 a lead-acid battery energy storage container at an RV park in Rio Dell, California, exploded. The database records the system as installed in 2018, so about four years old at the time, used for solar integration and backup, with Narada listed as integrator. Capacity, root cause, any injuries, evacuation and site downtime are not reported in the available source. No other public reporting of the event was found.
Not reported. The source gives no root cause for the explosion.
- Lead-acid storage systems carry their own explosion risk, commonly linked to gas build-up during charging, so ventilation and gas detection deserve the same attention given to lithium-ion sites.
- Non-lithium and smaller behind-the-meter installations, including those at commercial sites such as parks and campgrounds, should be covered by inspection and incident reporting regimes.
- Systems several years into service benefit from increased inspection to pick up degradation before it produces a safety event.
EPRI
Published 2026-09-12. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.