A fire at a San Diego Gas & Electric lithium ion battery storage facility in Escondido is out and evacuation orders were lifted as of Saturday afternoon, city and utility officials announced.
The evacuation orders had been in place since Thursday, Sept. 5, after the fire broke out at the battery storage facility at 571 Enterprise St. An area of Enterprise Street was closed between Mission Road and Auto Park Way as well as an area east of Alpine Street.
City and SDG&E officials said that the fire was limited to one storage container out of the facility’s 24, and that it was out and cold by 1 a.m. Friday, Sept. 6. No injuries were reported, according to a joint statement.
The Escondido Fire Department and SDG&E will conduct an investigation to determine the fire’s cause.
The fire, following a similar blaze at a lithium-ion battery energy storage facility in Otay Mesa in May, is fueling concerns among residents in Harmony Grove, Elfin Forest and nearby neighborhoods about a planned Seguro battery facility near those communities. Followers of the Facebook page for Stop Seguro are already noting the Escondido fire as a reason why the group seeks to stop the Seguro project.
North San Diego County residents, particularly in coastal communities, were concerned by an acrid smell in the air by Friday afternoon. San Diego County Air Pollution Control District officials stated that the smell was not from the fire to the east in Escondido. Residents continued to dispute that report in social media circles, and city and county officials in the region had not determined the source of the smell as of the weekend.
“The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District is actively assessing the odors reported in North San Diego County,” the district stated on Saturday, Sept. 7. “At this time levels of air pollutants including particulate matter levels have not exceeded any air quality standards, though ozone (smog) pollution levels are higher than usual due the heat wave. We have confirmed through inspector documentation and meteorological conditions that these odors are not related to the battery fire in Escondido.”
The district issued a smoke advisory, however, for portions of North County as a brushfire burned on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
Escondido and SDG&E officials stated that the air quality around the battery storage incident remained safe.
“The Escondido Fire Department, the Escondido Police Department, the San Diego County Hazardous Materials Division, the San Diego County Health Department, and SDG&E have closely monitored the area’s air quality since the start of the incident,” officials stated. “Atmospheric monitoring has been constant, and the air quality remains safe.”
The battery facility opened in 2017 and was considered an innovative energy storage concept at the time, according to a Times of San Diego report. Industry publication Utility Dive named it Project of the Year.