Battery fire at Vistra’s Moss Landing Power Plant prompts shelter-in-place order.

UPDATED: Officials lifted the shelter-in-place order at 4pm Friday, Sept. 18.

County of Monterey officials issued a shelter-in-place order at 7:30am Friday, Sept. 18 for people within one-third of a mile of Moss Landing Power Plant due to a structure fire at the previously burned battery energy storage facility, which is currently undergoing demolition and cleanup. 

People within that radius from 7301 Highway 1 in Moss Landing are encouraged to close all windows and doors, stay indoors (and bring animals indoors), and turn off heating/air conditioning until further notice. (Stay up-to-date on County orders at readymontereycounty.org.)

Due to the heavy metals contained in lithium-ion batteries, officials recommend staying indoors when battery facilities burn. 

The North County Fire Protection District is responding to the fire, which was reported at 6:15am. While battery fires cannot be extinguished with water, officials expect the fire to burn out within 24 hours. 

Drivers are also advised to avoid the affected area during the emergency response. 

Texas-based Vistra Corps.'s Moss 300 facility caught fire in January 2025, a catastrophic event that led to the burning of the entire facility. 

It took months until Vistra got clearance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin cleanup and demolition of the site, amid continued risk of flare-ups. As of a June update, officials reported that 34,786 out of an estimated 35,772 battery modules had been removed for recycling so far, work that remains ongoing. 

In June, Monterey County Department of Emergency Services Director Kelsey Scanlon told the County Board of Supervisors that no flare-ups had occurred during the removal process, although that was a known potential risk of the process. 

Phase 2 of the cleanup process has since begun, which involved demolition and higher risk of flare-ups. The fire on Sept. 18 is in the north wall of the Moss 300 building, which was destroyed in the January 2025 fire, and is being removed as part of the cleanup process. 

As of September, Vistra reports that more than 34,000 intact batteries have been removed from the site. The company expects the removal process for intact batteries and the damaged portion of the building to be completed by the end of 2026.

No injuries have been reported.

"Air quality monitors are active along the site’s perimeter and in the surrounding community, and, out of an abundance of caution, the natural gas plant located onsite has been temporarily shut down," according to a statement from Vistra.

In a statement, Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, said, "I'm frustrated and deeply concerned by the repeat fire at Moss Landing. Early this morning I received initial briefings on the Moss Landing battery energy storage fire. Although initial cleanup and battery removal, under the supervision of the federal EPA, were completed two weeks ago, 1,500 hard-to-access batteries remain in the damaged area of the facility."