SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — A fire at an SDG&E Battery Storage Facility in Escondido that broke out Thursday is now out and all evacuations in the area have been lifted.
The Escondido Fire Department and SDG&E said in a statement posted online Saturday that the fire has been out and cold since 1 a.m. Friday.
The fire was contained to one storage container, and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The City of Escondido lifted evacuations orders at noon on Saturday. All affected residents registered with Alert San Diego and/or Genasys will receive a notification when they are cleared to return to the area.
Testing shows that water and air quality are safe.
Authorities also say the fire is not related to the foul odor that was reported in several North County cities Friday afternoon.
This fire is raising concerns among North County residents about the proposed Seguro Battery Energy Storage Project, near Escondido and San Marcos.
“Last night we could smell it, it was faint but we could smell it and some of my neighbors have actually texted and said they are actually experiencing sore throat,” said Phyllis Laderman, who lives near the proposed site.
“I was very nervous and I thought this is exactly what we have been concerned about happening, that facility is actually in an industrial area and it's gonna be about … one tenth the size of what this battery energy storage facility will be right next to us,” Laderman said.
Laderman is among those who do not agree with the project.
“This is a residential neighborhood that Seguro is being proposed at and Seguro it means safe in Spanish, no es seguro its not safe,” said J.P Theberge, who lives in unincorporated Escondido.
There is an online petition with more than 3,000 signatures to stop the installation of the project.
CBS 8 spoke to Corinne Lytle Bonine, director of permitting at AES, during an Escondido City Council meeting in August about the proposed project.
“We want to build a project that is going to be a good neighbor … to this area," Lytle Bonine said.
Lytle Bonine also explained they have already instituted a series of changes to the project including reducing the project size and made improvements to existing access to help in the event of a wildfire.
However, these changes are not enough for some people who are concerned with the installation of the Seguro Project.
“It's great that they’ve made some changes but they're very minor changes. It's still the largest... second largest size facility in California,” Theberge said.