Fire erupts in Southeast Missouri at one of world’s largest lithium-ion battery facilities

Residents of a southeast Missouri town were forced to evacuate their homes Wednesday when a fire erupted at a nearby battery recycler.

Madison County 911 posted on Facebook around 2 p.m. on behalf of the county sheriff’s office telling residents north and west of Fredericktown to leave the area.

“If you can see or smell smoke in this area, you need to evacuate!” the post says.

In a separate post later in the afternoon, Madison County 911 and the Fredericktown Fire Department said only residents on Madison County Road 277 needed to evacuate. The county urged other residents to shelter in place. The post said the city of Fredericktown was not affected by the order.

“Close windows, doors and turn off window AC systems,” the post says. “…Again, if you see smoke, stay indoors.”

Around 7:45 p.m., an emergency dispatcher told The Independent crews were still fighting the fire.

Photos posted on Facebook by Madison County 911 show Critical Mineral Recovery, one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery processing facilities, with a hole in its partially-collapsed roof. Smoke billowed from the charred building and a slight glow of remnant fire could be seen inside.

According to the company’s website, the plant processes electric vehicle and consumer-grade lithium-ion batteries and retrieves valuable metals and minerals, including copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, manganese and aluminum. The recycled materials can be used to build new batteries.

The fire erupted in spite of what the company’s website calls “likely the most sophisticated automated and remote supervised and controlled fire suppression systems in the world.”

“The state-of-the-art fire prevention system is designed to detect fires before they start,” the company’s site says. “The system covers all areas where battery materials are stored or processed. It is monitored remotely 24/7 employing high-intensity industrial forward looking infrared…camera technology.”

County officials, the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the company could not be immediately reached for comment.