More than 100 firefighters and a hazardous materials team are working to combat a fire involving lithium ion batteries and prototype cars at General Motors’ design studio in Pasadena, authorities said.
At one point, a firefighter was trapped in the structure amid the ferocious blaze and sent out a mayday call.
The Pasadena Fire Department responded to the fire in the 600 block of Sierra Madre Villa Avenue at 5:50 p.m., according to department spokesperson Lisa Derderian. The incident was declared a four-alarm fire — signifying a catastrophic blaze that requires the mobilization of significant fire department resources — due to the scale of the structure and the hazardous materials involved.
“This is one of the largest structure fires we’ve had in Pasadena in many, many years,” Derderian said.
Preliminary reports indicated that lithium ion batteries and concept cars burned inside the building; however, the incident remains active, and the cause of the fire is under investigation, she said. Some of the burned cars appeared to be gasoline-powered vehicles.
It took firefighters more than an hour to track down the source of the blaze as thick smoke engulfed the 149,000-square-foot campus. General Motors invested more than $71 million in 2021 to build the three-building facility as a new base for its Advanced Design Center.
The blaze is challenging to combat as crews cannot use water to extinguish lithium ion battery fires. Doing so can cause a destabilizing chemical reaction, leading more batteries to catch fire or explode.
“Firefighters on scene have trained in scenarios like this, but it does put a different twist on extinguishing fires,” Derderian said.
Large lithium ion battery fires can take several hours or even days to render safe.
When one battery cell overheats, it can trigger a chain reaction where nearby cells also overheat. This reaction releases heat and toxic gases and can continue deep inside the battery pack long after visible flames are put out.
There was a mayday call when a firefighter became trapped inside the fire-engulfed building Wednesday evening. But fire crews were able to locate him and pull him out of the structure without injuries.
“He did not wish to be transported [to a hospital], but it was a very scary few minutes there until they determined that he was OK,” Derderian said.
Fire crews are searching the entire campus to ensure there is no one else trapped inside, she said. Crews will remain on scene overnight as they continue to deal with the hazardous materials involved in the blaze.
