--- title: "World’s Largest Lithium Ion Plant Catches Fire in California" description: "Hundreds of miles north of a scorched LA, a lithium-ion battery plant has caught fire — and it wasn't the first time it's had issues." date: "2025-01-18" modified: "2025-01-18" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/lithium-ion-plant-fire" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "batteries" - "fire" - "lithium ion batteries" - "the digest" --- # World’s Largest Lithium Ion Plant Catches Fire in California ![Hundreds of miles north of a scorched LA, a lithium-ion battery plant has caught fire — and it wasn't the first time it's had issues.]() *\Image: Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty\* ## Scorched Ion Hundreds of miles north of a [scorched Los Angeles](), a massive lithium-ion battery facility has caught fire — and it wasn't the first time the plant has had issues. As [Monterey's *KSBW* reports](), the Moss Landing plant — which is owned by a Texas company called Vistra Energy and billed as the [largest lithium-ion storage facility in the world]() — caught fire earlier in the week, leading to both the plant itself and the [surrounding area being evacuated](). Lithium-ion battery fires are, as anyone who lives in an [e-bike-riddled city]() knows by now, notoriously difficult to put out. The dense energy storage units, which power everything from cell phones to electric vehicles, can go up in flames in a phenomenon known as "[thermal runaway]()," which is a chain reaction in which one battery cell overheating can trigger others near it to do the same. As such, the fires essentially re-ignite themselves, and firefighters have learned to let these fires partially die down on their own rather than using copious amounts of water that often won't put a dent in these blazes. Because of the outrageous amount of water it would have taken to douse the blaze at Moss Landing, firefighters initially stood down from the inferno, which died down before [reigniting]() in the aftermath of the first blaze — an epic local disaster, and the latest sign that the transition to green energy isn't always free of grave industrial catastrophes. ## Where There's Smoke Vistra told *KSBW* that the cause of the fire is not yet known, and won't be until it can conduct an investigation post-blaze. As the [local broadcaster noted in subsequent reporting](), however, the plant has been plagued by malfunctions for years. Just a year after it [opened in 2020](), local firefighters were called to the plant after a battery overheating incident [caused the facility to fill up with smoke](). Ultimately, Vistra announced in January 2022 that an [issue with its liquid cooling hoses]() led to some smoke inside the facility. Less than a month after that investigation was completed, [*another* meltdown at Moss Landing]() led to firefighters being again called out to the plant, *KSBW* reports. While the plant has been able to come back online relatively shortly after those incidents, it's unlikely Vistra will be back in business anytime soon given that roughly 75 percent of the facility has been burned. Described by local officials as both a "[worst-case scenario]()" and a "[wake-up call]()," there have thankfully been no injuries or deaths attributed to the Moss Landing plant fire — but [long-term damage from the toxic fumes]() emitted by the flames could be waiting for locals down the line. **More on fires:** [*Greedy Landlords Are Massively Price-Gouging Rents After LA Wildfires*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()