Update · Ivy Park at Claremont

La Verne battery fire: the zones are shrinking, and things are heading the right way

Good news from La Verne this afternoon. The county has pulled the evacuation zones around the Weymouth plant battery fire back sharply — three of the four original zones are lifted, and the nearest order is now 1.9 miles from us. Ivy Park is well outside every zone. The only thing left to manage is keeping the building closed up while the west wind blows, until about 7 PM.

Josh Bradley 22 September 2026, updated 2:55 PM PDT Prepared for Oakmont Group

2.6mi

Site to fire

1.9mi

To nearest order zone

1 + 2

Order zone + warning zones

~7PM

West wind eases

What's happening

The fire started late this morning in a battery energy storage system beside the solar field on the northeast side of the Weymouth Water Treatment Plant. LA County Fire had units on scene at 11:48 AM. Crews are working defensively — cooling the area with water from outside rather than attacking the batteries directly, which is standard for lithium fires and means this can burn for hours.

The first evacuation orders covered the neighborhood around Wheeler and Bonita avenues, and Grace Miller Elementary and Bonita High School sheltered in place. No injuries have been reported.

Then the good news: between 2:40 and 2:45 PM the county cut the zones back. Three of the four original zones have been lifted, and the order now covers just a small area at the plant, with warning zones around it. Shrinking zones are the clearest sign crews are getting the upper hand.

Map of north La Verne and west Claremont. One evacuation order zone, immediately around the Weymouth plant where the battery fire is marked, with evacuation warning zones around it. Ivy Park at Claremont, on North Towne Avenue just north of I-210, sits 2.6 miles east-northeast of the fire and outside every zone; the nearest point of the order zone is 1.9 miles west-southwest of the site. A grey wedge shows where fumes could drift east-southeast on this afternoon's west wind, with the site on its northern edge. — **Well outside the zones, on the edge of possible fumes.** After this afternoon's cut, the zones are all in La Verne — nothing reaches Claremont. The shaded wedge follows the west wind; its core runs just south of us, but at this distance the site is close enough to its northern edge that fumes could reach it. Zones from our live CalOES evacuation feed, synced 2:50 PM PDT · wind from Brackett Field (KPOC) and the NWS hourly forecast

The zones

Zone	Status	Set	To site
LVN-E010-A	Evacuation Order	2:40 PM	1.9 mi
LVN-E010-C	Evacuation Warning	2:45 PM	2.0 mi
LVN-E010-B	Evacuation Warning	2:45 PM	2.5 mi

LA County zone IDs (US-CA-XLA-). Distance is to the nearest point of each zone boundary. Lifted this afternoon: LVN-E009, E011 and E012, including the order zone that had been 0.8 miles from the site.

One thing to manage until this evening

Brackett Field has had a west wind at around 10 mph since midday, and the forecast holds it there until about 7 PM, which points toward Claremont. Battery fires can give off irritant fumes, so the easy precaution is to keep outside air out of the building until the wind changes.

After that it gets better. The wind goes calm around 8 PM, and from about 11 PM a light north wind sets in overnight, carrying anything from the plant south and away from us. Tomorrow morning's light northeast breeze keeps it that way.

Bottom line

The zones are shrinking and Ivy Park is well clear of them. Keep the building closed up until the wind eases this evening, and that's it.

Today at the site

Now until about 8 PM

Close windows and doors, and set HVAC to recirculate. Move outdoor activities and walks indoors. Resume after the wind shift, not before.

Just in case unlikely now

Know your route out is east or north. Towne Avenue north to Base Line, or I-210 east — both lead away from the fire. Watch for Alert LA County messages. We'll text OMG South the moment any zone changes near the site.

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