Gateway Energy Storage System Fire: Otay Mesa, CA

The Gateway Energy Storage System in Otay Mesa, California, experienced a catastrophic fire when its batteries went into thermal runaway. Firefighters were on the scene for 15 days, battling to contain the blaze. Learn about the incident, the risks involved, and what this means for the energy storage industry.

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00:00 Intro
00:18 About Gateway Energy Storage System
01:05 Where the Fire Started
03:25 After the Fire
04:28 Escondido CA ESS
04:58 Las Mesa CA ESS
06:32 Standish MI ESS

[ttkddry]

MW vs MWh... First is power, second is capacity

[suprememasteroftheuniverse]

I love how sustainable energy is so cheap, safe and clean. ❤😂

[thereissomecoolstuff]

This is insane. They did not think this through. Burning for weeks, no access. Florine gas being emitted. These shouldn’t be in neighborhoods. Good job on this one. I learned a lot.

[snort]

First I heard of this fire. I guess news agencies didnt think anyone be interested.

[Norman_Fleming]

I am willing to bet the people placing these facilities live nowhere close to them.

[RobertKohut]

Saving the Planet one fire at a time.... LOL

[CVLex]

Great analysis!! Local media mostly ignored it.

[sawtooth]

I live in southwest idaho and there was a battery storage fire about six months ago. What I find troubling is how the media reports on these incidents. The first reports didn't even mention that the unit was a battery storage unit. It was reported as a fire at a electrical substation type unit. But then the fire kept burning and the local news had to make follow up reports and that is when it was reported as a storage battery unit. But nothing about potential air quality threat or public safety.

[EmilioBaldi]

I am confident that all that now contaminated water has been collected and will be processed properly.

[mattc.]

If the fear of nuclear power hadn't been pushed so hard over the years we wouldn't be having these issues. Like other places we would have had plenty of manageable power for the grid. With these units it's not if but when a problem arises. I hope training can keep up with the threat. Thanks for the update.

[natterlynabob]

Well, I remember my boy scout firemanship pamplet in 1962. It said *never* put water on a burning metal fire, because it will spread the fire. Fast forward a few decades, and I knew an engineer who was the site engineer for the construction of Fukushima number 1. He asked managers how they going to put out the burning cadmium fire that was inevitable after an earthquake. His managers said "with water". He quit is job and returned to the US. Now we have these lithium fires all over the place, and every one seems to have someone pouring water on it. You have to smother the fire with foam or nitrogen or carbon dioxide. Water is a disaster for these fires.

[danielhertz]

Bet that smoke is really friendly compared to co2.

[andyharman]

I'm sure that there were no other fires anywhere in the region during the 15 days the fire department had personnel onsite.

[martentrudeau]

I have a questions. Did the 4-hour fire rated concrete separation walls between the 5 buildings stop the spread and contain the fire. Or did the fire spread to the other 4 buildings? And why don't we have aerial views of the building on fire and fire aftermath photos? I haven't seen any on the internet.

[AlexLancashirePersonalView]

just an accident waiting to happen, Chief.

[DXYSU]

All this to achieve zero emissions????

[dwayne]

I have fought 500 kv transformer fires located outside as a utility firefighter. The truth is that it was a 200 ton metal and oil trash fire once it was deenergized. We would never enter our 500 KV switchyard for a fire because you cannot deenergize the whole switchyard without causing an east coast blackout..

A building with 250 mw of stored energy should never be entered. That energy never goes away until the battery is destroyed.

What should be done is that a liquid oxygen truck should come in and the liquid oxygen poured in through the fire sprinkle system piping. This will ensure complete combustion and you'll get a pretty blue flame too. Complete combustion will limit the pollutants in the smoke. It will also speed up the extinguishment time or more like the combustion time from weeks to days. These are nothing more than trash fires once they start. Stopping the combustion process leaves batteries in a dangerous unknown condition and they still might have deadly electrical energy too.

All water should be used to protect the exposures, not prolong the disaster.

[MikeOShea-lxtc]

15 days of toxic smoke and haz mat contamination. How environmentally is this?

[BonannoCM]

Does battery power storage fires count towards net-zero global warming reduction goals?

[snappingclam]

Batteries are safe and effective, right?