A little immediately after 8:00 p.m. on April 19, 2019, a captain with the Peoria, Arizona, fireplace department’s Hazmat unit, opened the doorway of a container loaded with extra than ten,000 energized lithium-ion battery cells, part of a utility-scale storage procedure that experienced been deployed two yrs before by the area utility, Arizona Public Support.
Previously that night, at all-around five:forty one p.m., dispatchers experienced obtained a call alerting them to smoke and a “bad smell” in the spot all-around the McMicken Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) web-site in suburban Phoenix.
Sirens blaring, a few fireplace engines arrived at the scene inside ten minutes. Soon immediately after their arrival, 1st responders recognized that energized batteries ended up associated and elevated the call to a Hazmat response. Right after consulting with utility staff and deciding on a system of action, a fireplace captain and a few firefighters approached the container doorway