Fire at Brand New Warwick Battery Storage Facility

A scary situation developed earlier this week in the town of Warwick as a fire sparked up at the new town's battery storage facility. The facility was just recently opened last month and is located on property owned by the Warwick School District.

What We Known About the Warwick Battery Fire Currently

On June 27th, a message was posted on the Warwick Valley Central School District Community Message Board which addressed the issue of the fire at the battery storage facility. In the message, it addressed how one of the eight units located at the facility had caught fire. The fire has caused the burning of plastic materials which in turn has caused heavy smoke conditions.

The Warwick Fire Department responded to the scene and has been handling the situation. The fire department also advised people living in the area to keep their windows closed and for other people to avoid the area. The smoke from the fire also has led to the district evacuating and closing off the district office, Middle School, High School and Sanfordville Elementary. Currently, the district is following the instruction given to them by the fire department as the situation continues to unfold.

How The Fire Department Addressed Battery Fire

Many people and I would dare to say most people know that when it comes to fires, not every fire is the same. Whether it is a wood fire, grease fire or an electrical fire, the type of fire that a fire department is dealing with will greatly impact the way in which they handle it.

That is exactly what happened with this current situation at the battery storage facility. The fire department as well as officials from Warwick and Orange County Emergency Services have managed to contain the fire to the one unit where the fire started. In terms of putting out the fire, they are waiting and allowing for the 'combustible materials' to burn off as 'it is not recommended to use water to try and put out a battery storage fire'.

With this in mind, there is good news in terms of the situation currently. The good news is that to this point in time, no injuries have been reported from the scene. In addition to not having any injuries to personnel or civilians, the Hazmat team that also reported to the scene conducted air quality tests and from those tests they were able to determine that air quality is within non alarming levels.

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When the Battery Storage Facility Opened

The facility was built and operated by Convergent Energy and Power and the completion of the facility was announced by Convergent as well as Orange & Rockland (O&R) back in mid-May. The idea of the system was that it would be able to provide power to those that needed it during times of high demand.

President and CEO of O&R Robert Sanchez, called the project...

This project represents a positive, innovative achievement in O&R’s continuous efforts to provide more sustainable, local power while minimizing its costs to our customers.

You can read more about the beginning of the battery storage facility here.

While the fire happening in the first place is unfortunate, it is important to remember that the chance existed for this to be much worse. Fire department and emergency officials will continue to handle and maintain the situation until the fire has completed burned through everything it can. In addition, air quality testing will also continue in the area over the next few days.