Temperatures began to stabilize Thursday in a pair of fire-damaged lithium battery storage units at a Metropolitan Water District facility in La Verne, raising hopes that evacuations could soon be lifted for hundreds of nearby residents.
Fire crews have been steadily spraying water on the battery units that are adjacent to an array of solar panels at the MWD compound in the 3200 block of Wheeler Avenue since the fire erupted in one of the units around 11:40 a.m. Tuesday.
That fire burned for several hours, with firefighters keeping a safe distance due to the volatile and potentially hazardous nature of lithium batteries. Crews instead sprayed water on the unit from afar, intent on preventing the flames from spreading.
The heat of the flames, however, caused damage to an adjacent battery unit, which began showing signs of damage Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning. Fire crews have maintained the flow of water being sprayed on the units ever since to keep them cool, pausing occasionally to see if their temperatures were still rising.
La Verne Fire Department Battalion Chief Mark Savage said the temperature in the second unit was 116 degrees Thursday morning so cooling measures were continuing, but there were no active flames and no smoke was emanating from the battery bank.
LVFD Chief Brandon Coatney told reporters crews cut the flow of water for about three hours Thursday afternoon, and while the temperature did rise in the second unit, it quickly stabilized, allowing experts to approach both units and begin the process of de-energizing them.
Coatney said the first unit was essentially consumed by the original fire, so nothing much is left in it except “a lot of the melted components.”
“However, there probably is still some energy stored in that system, so we’re dealing with that,” he said. “But we did take some positive steps this afternoon. We’re going to keep working all through the night to keep making positive steps, and I hope to have much better news here very shortly with that. But I’m happy to report that we’re moving in the right direction.”
Once the batteries are de-energized and no longer producing heat or hazardous vapors, they will be transported to a hazardous waste unit and the area will be investigated, fire officials said earlier.
For the time being, however, evacuations orders remained in place, affecting 186 units in a mobile home complex and more than 300 single-family homes east of the MWD facility.
The area under the evacuation order is bounded by Moreno Avenue to the west, Foothill Boulevard to the north, B Street to the east and Paseo Drive, Winterhaven Drive and Kendrick Drive to the south, according to a statement posted on La Verne’s website.
Residents within the area are ordered to remain evacuated until further notice and residents with nowhere to go are encouraged to call the La Verne Police Department Watch Commander at 909-596-1913.
An emergency shelter was set up at the La Verne Community Center.
Nearby Grace Elementary School was closed Wednesday and Thursday, and will likely continue Friday. Pelota Park was also closed until further notice.
Overnight parking restrictions will not be enforced throughout the city of La Verne until Friday at 5 a.m. to adjust for evacuated residents staying at other locations in the city.
Both the battery storage units that caught fire and the one being monitored Thursday are 8 feet wide, 8 feet high and 20 feet long, Savage said.
The MWD issued a statement saying the fire occurred “at a battery energy storage system near a solar panel field on the northeast side at the La Verne facility, which also houses the Weymouth Water Treatment Plant. The safety of Metropolitan’s water supply is not affected.”
Residents can receive updates from the social media pages of the La Verne fire and police departments or at laverneca.gov/736/METROPOLITAN-WATER-DISTRICT—SEPTEMBER-.
The MWD is a regional water wholesaler that distributes water to agencies throughout Southern California, serving millions of customers.
Officials said that water remains safe to drink in La Verne and in areas served by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.