No evacuations for battery fire at energy storage facility east of Grand Ridge

A battery fire Monday at an Invenergy storage facility on 25th Road, just west of the La Salle Generation Station nuclear power plant, is contained, but the scene will remain active for awhile.

No evacuations have been made.

There is no immediate threat to the surrounding area, reported the La Salle County Emergency Management Agency. Officials there say this is a different type of battery fire than what occurred recently in Morris, causing evacuations.

To be safe, Illinois EPA is conducting air sampling, the La Salle County agency said.

Firefighters, including those from Marseilles, were on the scene trying to extinguish the fire and smoke was visible as of 1 p.m. The driveway toward the facility is closed and media was not allowed past that point.

Invenergy’s Grand Ridge Energy Storage is the second-largest operating lithium ion battery project in the world based on it’s power rating according to the Energy Storage North America website.

The area around the fire is rural.