On May 15, a fire broke out at the Gate way Energy Storage Station (lithium battery) in Otay Mesa, San Diego, California, USA. So far, the fire has reignited twice and has continued to burn for a full six days, and there is no sign that the fire will be fully controlled.
The fire was first discovered at the 250-megawatt energy storage facility on the afternoon of May 15, last Wednesday. Since the fire broke out, firefighters have been injecting water into the building's fire extinguishing system to suppress the flames and cool the hot batteries. It took about 24 hours for the staff to control the fire and lift the evacuation order.
The initial fire was almost completely extinguished on the afternoon of May 16. But the first reignition occurred that night. On May 17, the staff had ventilated the central area of the fire, and a fire official called the situation "relatively controllable."
The second reignition occurred on the evening of May 17, and more than three dozen firefighters returned to work to try to put out the fire. However, to no avail, on Saturday night, the fire suddenly broke out, spreading to building components and burning part of the roof of the storage facility.
At present, fire officials are still unable to estimate how long the fire will last accurately. Fire officials said in an interview with local media that it may take weeks to extinguish the fire.
For this fire, the California Fire Department said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. However, firefighters said these unpredictable fires are the result of a chain reaction of "thermal runaway."
According to a report released on Saturday morning, the lithium-ion batteries in the warehouse "continued to experience thermal runaway"; that is, the battery entered an uncontrollable self-heating state. This reaction occurs when lithium-ion batteries generate heat faster than they can dissipate heat, causing the temperature to rise rapidly and cause a fire.
As for why the fires repeatedly broke out, the fire department explained that such fires are difficult to extinguish because lithium-ion battery fires produce oxygen. Therefore, although water-based fire extinguishers help cool burning batteries, they rarely completely extinguish fires.
"You have to put water on the fire, but water can damage the batteries and cause them to start another fire. Historically, we usually see this cascading damage last longer, almost like a domino effect," said Robert Rezende, battalion chief and emergency response coordinator for alternative energy at the San Diego Fire Rescue Department.
In addition to the explosion, the fire may have produced toxic gases, which also caused concerns.
Cal Fire said hazardous materials teams have arrived on the scene to ensure air quality and water flow are not contaminated.
"We have begun monitoring the air again to make sure that everyone can be here safely. We did issue an evacuation warning for the area. We will continue to monitor the air around this building," said Mike Cornette, captain of the Cal Fire Department.
"These chemicals are really toxic, and you definitely don't want to have residents nearby. We are talking about one of the largest battery facilities in the world. We are talking about 216 40-foot containers, each of which is filled with lithium-ion batteries," he added.
The official also explained that the crews were wearing "full gear" with full respirators to protect their lungs, skin, and eyes.
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