Fire at battery storage facility reignites in Otay Mesa: Cal Fire
Editor’s note: Donovan State Prison is not affected by the fire response.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A fire at a battery storage facility in Otay Mesa reignited overnight, prompting a rapid response from firefighters that continued into Friday.
As of 7:40 p.m., the fire is still contained to the building of origin and there has been no structural damage, Cal Fire San Diego said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Firefighters have deployed additional air quality monitoring equipment around the structure giving us the ability to lift evacuations,” the fire agency said.
The blaze initially broke out Wednesday inside Gateway Energy Storage facility, located in the 600 block of Paseo de la Fuente. It took nearly 24 hours for crews to extinguish the fire.
During the response, surrounding businesses were put on standby for evacuation while firefighters maintained a 600-foot safety barrier due to dangerous levels of hydrogen.
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Cal Fire said crews were still monitoring the structure when it reignited Thursday night, prompting an additional response. HAZMAT teams were also called in as the fire involved lithium-ion batteries.
Sherriff’s deputies closed the road that leads to the storage facility.
FOX 5/KUSI spoke with Cal Fire Batt. Chief Patrick Walker Friday morning.
“We noticed that the fire intensity started to increase, so we went back into the fire attack strategy and defensive mode, trying to keep the fire at the building of origin,” Cal Fire Batt. Chief Patrick Walker told FOX 5/KUSI Friday morning.
He said those efforts have been successful so far, though the Cal Fire official explained that it could take some time to fully eradicate the fire.
“The fire is what we call ‘thermal runaway’ — (meaning) the lithium-ion batteries are kind of ignited in their burning, so what we are doing right now is trying to contain the toxic fumes and the smoke and the fire obviously,” Batt. Chief Walker continued. “But it’s one of those processes that could be long duration.”
Although there is no evacuation order in effect, there is a “warning.” This means crews are closely monitoring the situation in case of worsening conditions.
There are no residential areas in the surrounding area but there are a lot of commercial businesses that are aware of the situation.
Another aspect that’s being considered by fire officials is weather. They are monitoring conditions closely as west winds are pushing smoke and fumes toward Otay Mountain.
“We started monitoring the atmosphere again to make sure that is safe for everybody to be here. We did issue an evacuation warning for this area. We are continuing to monitor the atmosphere around this building,” said Cal Fire Capt. Mike Cornette.
The official also explained that crews are in “full turnout gear” with full respirators to protect their lungs, skin and eyes.
Border Patrol has been contacted and informed of the situation, though it’s not expected to affect border crossings.
The Gateway Energy Storage facility sits on a 80,000 square-feet property. The blaze is reported to be in Building No. 3.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
FOX 5’s Elizabeth Alvarez and Kasia Gregorczyk contributed to this report.
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