A fire broke out on Friday morning at Tesla’s megapack battery site in Australia and fire crews worked to contain the toxic blaze that burned through the night.
The fire started at the Victorian Big Battery site near Geelong, Australia when a 13-tonne lithium battery was engulfed in flames, which then spread to an adjacent battery bank, Australia’s ABC News reports.
More than 150 firefighters were on hand to fight the blaze, along with more members of Ambulance Victoria, to monitor the health of the emergency responders at the scene.
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The fire is releasing toxic fumes into the air and a toxic smoke warning has been issued for nearby Geelong. Residents there have been warned to close windows, close fireplace flues, and bring their pets inside.
Fortunately, no injuries have been reported and authorities say the fire has been contained, though officials said that they were letting the fire burn itself out.
“If we try and cool them down it just prolongs the process,” the CFA’s Assistant Chief Fire Officer Ian Beswicke told ABC News. “But we could be here anywhere from 8 to 24 hours while we wait for it to burn down.”
Image credits Fire Rescue Victoria
Produced by Telsa, the Victorian Big Battery is expected to become the largest battery in the southern hemisphere. At 300 megawatts, it’s powerful enough to supply energy to 500,000 homes for an hour, though its real purpose is to act as a shock absorber and feed power into the grid when it’s unstable to help prevent blackouts.
