Container ports at LA, Long Beach and Montreal disrupted by lithium battery fires

The truck overturned on Ocean Boulevard at Navy Way and continued to impact operations at nearby terminals into Friday. At the port of Long Beach container terminals at Pier T and Pier A remained closed for the day shift because of their proximity to the fire.

By Saturday 28 Ocean Boulevard and the Vincent Thomas Bridge were fully reopened to traffic following the removal of the truck and load involved in the accident. LA port terminals that were closed as a result of the accident resumed full operations on Saturday. The ports reported that the site has been decontaminated.

The LA Fire Department reported that the battery fire started when a semi-trailer carrying large lithium-ion batteries in a container overturned on the CA-47, later resulting in an explosion inside the container that blew one side of it open. Firefighting crews decided to let the material burn overnight under strict supervision and on September 27 relocated the batteries to a vacant rail yard on Terminal Island close to the fire departments Station 40. Two heavy rescue vehicles and other machinery moved the container on to a trailer and transported it to the vacant rail yard. The batteries continued to burn out without disrupting operations at the ports.

Earlier last week, a major lithium battery fire was reported at the Racine Terminal in the Canadian port of Montreal involving 15,000kg of batteries in a refrigerated container. A temporary stay-at-home order was issued on September 25 for nearby residents as smoke spread through the area. World Cargo News reported that it took the Montreal Fire Department until around 3am to fully extinguish it, more than 12 hours after it started.