Monterey County officials continue to monitor Moss Landing fire; shelter-in-place order lifted

Monterey County officials say they are continuing to monitor a still-smoldering fire that started early Friday at a battery storage facility in Moss Landing. 

The fire began in an old scar burn from a building damaged in the original blaze in 2025, according to County of Monterey spokesperson Nick Pasculli. That fire was larger and caused an area-wide evacuation.

Crews from the North County Fire Protection District of Monterey County responded to the blaze shortly after 6:15 a.m. Friday, finding smoke coming from the north side of the facility, just over 8 miles south of the Santa Cruz-Monterey county line. Firefighters evacuated the site and accounted for personnel while working to stabilize the incident. 

Fire Chief Jess Cortez said Friday afternoon that nearly 1,500 battery modules, which were fully energized, inside the damaged building had “spontaneously ignited.” Cortez said there was no active fire at the moment, but that the building is still “hot and smoldering.” 

A representative for Vistra Energy, which owns the facility, said there is still a possibility for additional flare-ups. 

A spokesperson with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told Lookout via email that it’s working with local officials to ensure public safety. The federal agency is leading cleanup efforts at the site following the 2025 blaze that damaged a turbine hall of the gas power plant built in the 1950s and later converted to hold nearly 35,000 batteries. 

Kazami Brockman, on-scene coordinator for the EPA, said the agency is also monitoring the air quality around the facility and has not detected any heavy metal concentrations that are “exceeding the health screening levels.” 

Earlier this summer, the EPA warned residents that flare-ups at the site were possible during the second phase of the cleanup, which started earlier this month. The agency previously told Lookout that during the current stage of the cleanup, crews are working on the structurally unsound portion of the building and the batteries that were damaged by the 2005 fire. This phase of the cleanup is expected to last through early 2027. 

“I’m deeply disappointed and frustrated that we’re experiencing yet another fire at the Vistra facility in Moss Landing this morning,” said Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church, whose district includes Moss Landing. “The fire is alarming for the community; it brings once again to the forefront that safety must be paramount in every way we deal with battery energy storage systems.” 

The California Highway Patrol said Dolan Road, which runs alongside the plant, was still under a hard closure Friday afternoon, but Highway 1 is open. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has lifted its shelter-in-place order Friday afternoon.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post Friday that there is “no identified public health threat” to the county, and that it will continue to monitor the Moss Landing site. 

Concerns surrounding the battery storage systems have grown in Santa Cruz County after the 2025 blaze at the Moss Landing facility — especially as residents learned about a proposal for a new facility in Watsonville. 

The $200 million project proposed on 90 Minto Rd., just outside of Watsonville, is currently under review for approval by the California Energy Commission after developers withdrew their initial application with the county. 

Developers have previously told Lookout that the project aims to reduce the number of power outages in the area, support the local power grid and use safer batteries than those used at the Moss Landing site. 

However, many residents remain skeptical of those claims and continue to organize against the project, citing safety concerns and the proximity of the proposed facility to homes. 

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