Battery storage fire reignites at Vistra's Moss Landing facility

What happened

A fire was reported at the Vistra battery energy storage system facility in Moss Landing, California, on the Tuesday night before the report was published on 20 February 2025. Smoke was seen coming from the previously burned section of the Moss 300 building, which had caught fire on 16 January 2025. North County Fire Protection confirmed flames after launching a drone above the facility. Vistra said that further smoke and flare-ups were possible given the damage to the batteries.

The local fire chief said the fire burned itself out the following morning at 8 a.m. Vistra and public safety agencies said they would continue to monitor conditions at the site. Since the January fire, Vistra has kept a private fire crew on site at all times to monitor the Moss 300 building.

Contributing factors

The source states that the batteries were damaged in the January 2025 fire, and Vistra said this damage made further flare-ups possible. A county supervisor said that water, including rain, can cause a violent chemical reaction with lithium, and that disturbance of debris during cleanup can also create a risk of reignition. The source does not confirm which of these factors caused this event.

Lessons learned

1. Batteries damaged in a fire can reignite for days or weeks afterwards, so operators should plan for continued monitoring and not treat the incident as closed when the visible fire is out.
2. Operators should assess how rain, water and debris handling during cleanup could trigger reactions in damaged lithium battery modules before starting recovery work.
3. Thermal monitoring and a dedicated on-site fire watch are useful measures in the period after a major battery fire, and drone or thermal imaging can help confirm hidden hot spots.

More lessons on detection and monitoring, from every incident on the register.

Source

ksby.com