Over 1,200 People Told to Evacuate as Fire Breaks Out at Battery Plant in California

More than 1,200 people have been told to evacuate after a fire broke out at a battery plant in California.

On Thursday, Jan. 16, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on X (formerly known as Twitter) that evacuation orders had been issued following the blaze, which occurred at Moss Landing Power Plant at around 3 p.m. local time, per CNN.

A spokesperson for the sheriff's office told the outlet that the fire was not connected to the Los Angeles wildfires.

The blaze was still burning but hadn't gone beyond the facility as of the morning of Friday, Jan. 17, Monterey County spokesperson Nicholas Pasculli told PEOPLE.

"The evacuation order is still in effect, it's affecting approximately 1200-1500 people," he said, confirming it covered around 7600 acres.

Residents in the Moss Landing, Prunedale and Elkhorn communities, the northern part of the county of Monterey, have been affected, and in addition to county and state officials, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is on location "doing air quality and chemical monitoring," Pasculli told PEOPLE.

The plant is owned by the Texas-based company Vistra Energy, and Pasculli told PEOPLE they have also been doing air monitoring, and are "cautiously optimistic" about the readings they're getting at the moment.

He said that they'd been "successful in getting 100 percent support and cooperation from the residents for the evacuation," confirming that there were "no injuries or deaths," while thanking the community and their first responders.

"It's a full out effort to get this situation manageable so people can return back to their homes as quickly and safely as possible," he told PEOPLE, insisting that the "number one priority" was "the safety of the residents and first responders."

Pasculli wasn't able to provide an update on what caused the fire, insisting that will be part of the investigation.

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Clouds of "hazardous black smoke" and "huge flames" were seen at the plant on Thursday, The Mercury News reported.

The CAL FIRE San Mateo - Santa Cruz Unit X account posted, "From @sccounty Update at 8:45 PM on 1/16/25 - Due to an ongoing large fire in Moss Landing, Santa Cruz County Public Health officials are advising residents to stay indoors, keep windows and doors closed, limit outdoor exposure, and turn off ventilation systems."

In an 11 p.m. update on Thursday, KSBW-TV reported that the blaze had "exploded into a huge inferno" earlier that evening, but the fire appeared to have since gone down almost eight hours after it started.

Vistra Energy said in a previous news release that the power plant was the "largest of its kind in the world" following a 2023 expansion.

A company spokesperson said in a statement, per the Associated Press, “Our top priority is the safety of the community and our personnel, and Vistra deeply appreciates the continued assistance of our local emergency responders."

The facility, which is about 77 miles south of San Francisco, "contains tens of thousands of lithium batteries," according to the AP. The news agency stated that despite the batteries being "important for storing electricity from such renewable energy sources as solar energy," fires can be difficult to put out if a blaze occurs.

The North County Fire Protection District of Monterey, Vistra Energy and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.

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