More than 100 firefighters battle hazardous blaze at General Motors in Pasadena

"More than 100 firefighters and a hazardous materials team are working to combat a fire involving lithium ion batteries and prototype cars at General Motors' design studio in Pasadena, authorities said. At one point, a firefighter was trapped in the structure amid the ferocious blaze and sent out a mayday call. The Pasadena Fire Department responded to the fire in the 600 block of Sierra Madre Villa Avenue at 5:50 p.m., according to department spokesperson Lisa Derderian."

"The incident was declared a four-alarm fire - signifying a catastrophic blaze that requires the mobilization of significant fire department resources - due to the scale of the structure and the hazardous materials involved. "This is one of the largest structure fires we've had in Pasadena in many, many years," Derderian said. Preliminary reports indicated that lithium ion batteries and concept cars burned inside the building;"

More than 100 firefighters and a hazardous materials team responded to a four-alarm fire at General Motors' Advanced Design Center in Pasadena, where lithium-ion batteries and prototype cars burned. Thick smoke engulfed the 149,000-square-foot campus and crews spent over an hour locating the blaze's source. A firefighter became temporarily trapped and issued a mayday call before being rescued. The presence of burning lithium-ion batteries complicates firefighting because water can trigger chemical reactions that spread fires or cause explosions. Some burned vehicles appeared gasoline-powered. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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