CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a fire to break out at a lithium battery plant in Bessemer City early Monday morning. People living in the area have questions about how it could affect them.

What You Need To Know

  • Fire officials say the call for a commercial building fire came in at 1:20 a.m. Monday

  • There were no injuries, air quality concerns or run off, according to officials

  • Summer Dellinger claims the fire was not typical for the area

  • The cause of the fire is under investigation

It started as a typical morning for Summer Dellinger, who has called Bessemer City home for the last eight years.

She said she woke up and made her way to work. After arriving she made a quick check of social media, and it quickly turned to concern.

"I'm already at work, and I'm sitting here trying to find time and scroll and be like, 'oh my God is everyone OK?' because nowadays, you always see things on social media," Dellinger said.

Concerns from people in her community about the fire filled her timeline, something she says is far from typical.

"It's not often at all, you might see something like that in Charlotte, but not here, not in Bessemer City," Dellinger said.

At roughly 1:20 a.m. Monday, fire officials say it was an initial call for a commercial fire. When crews arrived, they were met with flames engulfing the building, reaching all the way to the roof.

Officials say, the most concerning part was the lithium that was located in a portion of the building. Lithium is a material that can’t be put out with water.

“A determination was made to allow that particular section of the building to burn," Gaston County Interim Emergency Management Director Scott Hunter said.

Hunter explained that if water was used it could have caused it to explode, and the materials they had on hand to put out fires, such as Purple K, wasn’t strong enough for that much lithium.

“Something this large, there’s nothing that I'm aware of in the area that would put that magnitude of fire out, once it’s to that degree," Hunter said.

Crews were able to contain the fire around 9:45 a.m. after damaging one-third of the building.

After re-evaluating the incident, officials say that no one was hurt, and they have no concerns about air quality or run off. 

However, with the nature of the building they believe it could take weeks to get more answers about what happened.

"We got a hazardous environment … as far as the building, as we’re unable to get to that part of the building, so some of this investigation is going to be done with drones," Hunter said.

In the meantime the plant has stopped operations, and workers are being told to help with recovery operations.

Officials have confirmed that no one is being put out of a job.

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