MOSS LANDING – Some 1,200 residents were allowed to return home Friday night after they were evacuated a day earlier due to a major fire at the Vistra battery storage plant in Moss Landing.

The Moss Landing fire at a lithium battery plant has poured smoke into the sky above Monterey County. The weather service forecasts wind to push it east.

A massive blaze erupted at one of the world’s largest lithium battery storage facilities in wildfire-ravaged California, forcing some 1,500 residents to evacuate their homes as toxic smoke filled the air.

Hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate early Jan. 17 after a major fire erupted at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants.

It’s a major incident. All the resources in the county and our neighboring jurisdictions have been deployed ...'

A fire at a one of the world’s largest battery plants in California contained tens of thousands of lithium batteries that store power from renewable energy sources

Hundreds were ordered to evacuate after a major fire erupted at one of the world's largest battery storage plants.

A major fire burning Friday at one of the world's largest battery storage plants in Northern California is sending up flames of toxic smoke, leading to the evacuation of 1,700 people and the closure of a major highway.

The fire began on Thursday afternoon and roughly 1,500 people evacuated the Moss Landing and the Elkhorn Slough area, according to The Mercury News.

MOSS LANDING, Calif. (AP) — A major fire burning Friday at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants in Northern California is sending up flames of toxic smoke, leading to the evacuation of 1,700 people and the closure of a major highway.

Experts have said that these types of fires will become more prevalent as the demand of electric vehicles and machinery continues to increase.

“There’s no way to sugarcoat it. This is a disaster, is what it is,” Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church told KSBW-TV. But he said he did not expect the fire to spread beyond the concrete building it was enclosed in.