A massive fire in California forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes.
The danger isn’t the flames themselves, but the lithium batteries stored at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in La Verne.
The fire started Tuesday in a battery energy storage system near a solar panel field, KTLA reported. They were used to help power the water plant instead of relying on the electrical grid.
KNBC reported that the fire was out, but the batteries were still dangerously hot and could explode, officials explained on Wednesday.
It isn’t known how long the batteries will take to cool down. Firefighters used water on a storage unit to cool them and monitored temperatures with drones, KTLA said.
They are trying to prevent what KTLA said was a “thermal runaway, where rising temperatures trigger a chemical reaction that can spread among battery cells. Once it starts, it cannot be stopped, the Los Angeles Times said.
“The all-clear is going to be a long process,” La Verne Fire Chief Brandon Coatney said. “It’s going to involve de-energizing batteries.”
Even if they don’t explode, they could produce smoke that could release hazardous vapors into the air.
As of Wednesday, there were no indications of hazardous substances in the air. Water also did not appear to be affected, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The cause of the initial fire is under investigation.
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