By: Diane Benjamin
Since 2 people have contacted me, I will tell you what I think happened.
The battery area employees were evacuated to the cafeteria because of a fire.
The fire was extinguished pretty quick, no injuries that I know of.
If anyone has any further information, let me know.
From a friend whose husband works there, that is what I heard as well.
It seems fires @ automobile manufacturing plants are not unique to Rivian. Consider there are various types of combustibles found within an automotive factory.
May 2024,A two-alarm fire broke out at Tesla’s Fremont, California vehicle assembly plant late Monday afternoon, according to the Fremont Fire Department.
December 2024 (USA): A fire in a welding area at a US Honda plant led to production halts, with concerns raised about flammable dust buildup.
Kentucky Plant Fire (May 2025): A fire occurred in an air handler unit within the car wash section of the Georgetown, Kentucky, plant on May 18, 2025. It caused an evacuation, but no injuries were reported. (Toyota)
EV batteries are a HUGE fire hazard. At least one major insurer removed all charging stations from their parking decks because of this.🤔 And all insurance companies charge an arm and a leg for EV premiums… expensive anyway, including home insurance if your EV is parked/ charging in your attached garage. All lithium batteries are hazards… also look up lithium battery “due to fire hazard” recalls at the Consumer Protection Agency cpsc.gov.🔥🔥🔥
And once the fire has started its very hard to put out because the battery produces its own oxygen while burning. It takes thousands of gallons of water to cool off a car battery and stop the thermal runaway. Kind of like a nuclear meltdown but its a chemical meltdown.
I never recharge my cell phone on a combustible surface.
I use my glass stove top surface to recharge it on.
It seems like I have read where a fire has started from a cell phone.