A huge fire broke out inside a building at the Moss Landing Power Plant Thursday, forcing emergency crews to evacuate areas around Moss Landing and close the heavily traveled Highway 1 in both directions for hours.
The fire was reported around 3pm, as a loud alarm boomed its warning over the Moss Landing Harbor. Shortly afterwards, a column of black smoke wafted into the sky alongside the pair of 500-foot concrete towers that were built in 1950.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued evacuation orders for areas of Moss Landing South of the Elkhorn Slough, North of Molera Road and Monterey Dunes Way, and West of Castroville Blvd. and ElkHorn Road to the ocean for the following zones (MRY-B037, MRY-B047, MRY-B050, MRY-B051,MRY-B053, MRY-B058, MRY-B060). The Castroville Recreation Center is being opened as a Temporary Evacuation place, 11261 Crane St., in Castroville.
Watsonville city officials, concerned that toxic smoke could drift north, warned residents to close their windows and doors and turn off their air systems. Residents should also limit their outdoor activities to reduce exposure to smoke, city officials said.
Monterey County Supervisor Glen Church spoke to reporters at a command post in Castroville set up by North Monterey County Fire, the lead agency combating the blaze.
“There is no way to sugarcoat this, it is a disaster,” he said. “This is a multi-agency response event. From what I understand, the fire is inside a concrete building and numerous batteries are on fire.”
As the fire developed and night fell, the orange glow could be seen for miles. Traffic clogged surface roads around the incident including downtown Castroville,where northbound Highway1 traffic slogged through the city and aimed north on Highway 156 toward Highway 101.
The incident marks the fourth fire at the Vistra Energy plant. When the company first installed a system of Tesla batteries at the plant in September, 2022, a week later a fire broke out and forced officials to close Highway 1 in both directions for around 12 hours and evacuate the area.
Officials are advising people not in the evacuation areas—but close enough to catch drift smoke—to keep doors and windows closed.
Officials have announced that all schools in the area will be closed Friday.
As of 8:40pm, an orange glow could still be seen above Moss Landing.
