Battery storage fire in Otay Mesa fuels concern over new site in North County
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A dangerous fire involving lithium-ion batteries at a storage facility in Otay Mesa has grabbed the attention of a North County community currently fighting against a proposed storage facility near the cities of Escondido and San Marcos.
The fire broke out inside the Gateway Energy Storage facility on Paseo de la Fuente Wednesday and took nearly 24 hours for crews to extinguish.
“When we arrived on scene there was light smoke showing,” Captain Mike Cornette with Cal Fire told FOX 5/KUSI on Thursday.
Businesses in the surrounding area were put on standby for evacuation while firefighters maintained a 600-foot safety barrier due to dangerous levels of hydrogen. A shelter in place order was also issued to Donovan State Prison, located about half a mile from the storage facility.
“We went into defensive action. We knew this was a battery storage facility. There’s some toxic gases and high heat that are attributed to that, so we called in extra support with the hazmat unit and the bomb squad to give us the extra tools,” Cornette explained.
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A special device was used to help monitor air quality levels. Cal Fire and other crews pumped water into the building’s fire suppression system to help douse the lithium-ion batteries.
The 250-megawatt Gateway Energy Storage facility is owned by LS Power and operated by subsidiary Rev Renewables. Neither company returned our request for comment as of Thursday.
It’s unclear the extent of the damage to the batteries, but fire crews were able to safely enter the building by Thursday afternoon.
Cal Fire says the property is still being monitored for harmful gas or any contamination, but they have now handed control over to the property owners.
“The first reaction was, we knew it was bound to happen,” said Ashley Robertson Bedard, who has been advocating against a proposed battery storage site, called the Seguro Battery Energy project, in North County over safety concerns given its proximity to residential areas.
“If we did have a fire at the Seguro project and we had to establish a 600-foot parameter that would be evacuating pretty much all of Eden Valley as well as part of the industrial park in the city of Escondido,” said Robertson Bedard. “Palomar hospital is only 1,600 feet away so they would also have to shelter in place if they took the same precautions.”
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