Milenio

The Tesla driver in Tijuana connected it to a utility pole.,

Since last month, concerns over air toxins sparked chaos across San Diego County. Schools abruptly canceled physical education classes in the southern part of the county after a "chemicals of war" warning from a local emergency care physician went viral. Meanwhile, up north, a lithium-ion battery fire at the SDG&E facility released harmful fumes, prompting the city to order evacuations of nearby residents. Across the border, a Tesla allegedly being charged directly from a utility pole caught fire, sending dangerous fumes into the shared airspace. Coupled with extreme temperatures, wildfire risks, and strong winds, the county was on high alert.

In Imperial Beach, mortgage broker Amy Driscoll says she's been getting sick from the "sewage and toxic" smell from the Tijuana River. The stench has become so unbearable that she’s resorted to using three air purifiers in her home. "The smell has improved since Mexico turned their pumps on, but I don’t expect that to last," Driscoll told me two days ago. "It’s the same story over and over."

Lithium-ion battery fire at the SDG&E facility at 571 Enterprise Street caused school closures in Escondido.

Driscoll refers to a third pump reportedly activated on September 12 in Tijuana to divert sewage away from the Tijuana River, which typically flows into Imperial Beach and South San Diego. "The smell isn’t completely gone, but it’s better than it was for months," she said, adding, "I’ve had symptoms like headaches, nausea, sore throat, eye irritation, and trouble sleeping because the smells wake me up."

On September 9, before a crowd in Imperial Beach, Dr. Matthew Dickinson expressed alarm over the sewage contamination in the Tijuana River, stating, "One of the things that horrified me was fifty parts per billion of hydrogen cyanide gas. That's something that's used as a chemical of war." That same day, Mar Vista Academy, Mar Vista High School, Southwest High School, and Southwest Middle School kept students indoors during P.E. classes due to health concerns.

Angela from the South Bay added, "Mueller Charter Elementary in Chula Vista is one of those schools. Our neighborhood by the J Street Marina has to suffer the stench of those odors during our morning walks to school. It’s not right for our kids."

The problems weren’t confined to the southern part of the county. On September 5, schools in Escondido were closed due to air toxins. That Thursday, according to NBC San Diego, the City of Escondido issued evacuation orders to areas south of Mission Road, east of Alpine Way and Auto Park Way, west of Enterprise Street, and north of Auto Park Way. These warnings were triggered by the lithium-ion battery fire at the SDG&E facility at 571 Enterprise Street. The Del Dios Academy of Arts and Sciences, Carolyn Gilbert Education Center, and Rock Springs Elementary were closed.

On Reddit, people reported smelling the fumes from as far as 50 miles away from Escondido. One user commented, "It smells horrible in Carlsbad by the beach. It smells toxic." Another mentioned, "I could smell a faint toxic smell in San Juan Capistrano this afternoon."

The gases released during a lithium-ion battery fire are particularly hazardous, as they are combustible, poisonous, or both. "Any fire puts off toxic gases, and the gases from a lithium-ion battery fire are even more dangerous," said Matt Salmon of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department in a recent Fox 5 San Diego news report.

Electric vehicle batteries are a growing concern when they catch fire, as demonstrated by an incident involving a Tesla Model S with California license plates — according to the Milenio news outlet. On August 5, the car caught fire in the Colonia Lázaro Cárdenas neighborhood of Tijuana after the driver connected it to a Comisión Federal de Electricidad utility pole. The fire destroyed the Tesla and engulfed the house where it was parked, sending additional toxic fumes into the air, further affecting the Imperial Beach neighborhoods on the other side of the border.