A Tesla Megapack battery caught fire at PG&E’s Elkhorn Battery Storage facility in Monterey County, California. A shelter-in-place advisory was in place for 12 hours due to fears of toxic smoke from the fire caused by Elon Musk’s battery system, with county officials announcing that even though the fire was “fully controlled” by 7:00 p.m. PT, “smoke may still occur in the area for several days.”
KSBW Action News 8 reports that a Tesla Megapack battery caught fire at the local utility company PG&E’s Elkhorn Battery Storage facility in Monterey County, California. The fire reported started at around 1:30 a.m. on September 20 according to the comm manager for PG&E, Jeff Smith. No injuries were reported at the time.
Tesla Megapack batteries during a tour of the Elkhorn Battery Energy Storage System in Moss Landing, California, U.S., on Monday, June 6, 2022. PG&E and Tesla Inc. have built the 182.5-megawatt battery energy storage project at the utilitys Moss Landing substation near Monterey Bay. Photographer: Nic Coury/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, North County Fire Protection District, and Pacific Gas & Electric had all issued a shelter-in-place advisory for nearby areas, including an interactive map showing which areas are affected and closing roads for over 12 hours.
Local residents were told to shut all windows and turn off ventilation systems due to the hazardous waste material that may have entered the atmosphere due to the Tesla Megapack fire.
A section of Highway 1 was confirmed to have been closed by Caltrans as fire crews were deployed to take control of the blaze. The California Highway Patrol tweeted at 4:29 p.m. that the closure was extended due to concerns about air quality in the area.
The North County Fire Department and Monterey County Sheriff’s Office lifted a safety advisory and reopened roads at around 7:00 p.m. A tweet from the Public Information for Monterey County account stated: “While the fire is considered fully controlled, smoke may still occur in the area for several days.”
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, North County Fire Protection District, and Pacific Gas & Electric had all issued a shelter-in-place advisory for nearby areas, including an interactive map showing which areas are affected and closing roads for over 12 hours.
Local residents were told to shut all windows and turn off ventilation systems due to the hazardous waste material that may have entered the atmosphere due to the Tesla Megapack fire.
A section of Highway 1 was confirmed to have been closed by Caltrans as fire crews were deployed to take control of the blaze. The California Highway Patrol tweeted at 4:29 PM that the closure was extended due to concerns about air quality in the area.
The Elkhorn Battery Facility house a 182.5-megawatt Tesla Megapack system that was first announced in 2019. The facility is owned and operated by PG&E but it was designed, built, and maintained by both Tesla and PG&E.
Read more at KSWB Action News 8 here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan
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