Large Fire, Explosion at Lithium-ion Battery Plant Results in Evacuations

A large fire at a lithium-ion battery processing plant just outside Fredericktown, MO, took place around 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2024.

Smoke could be seen rising from Critical Mineral Recovery, a company that recycles lithium-ion batteries and related materials. 

An area resident caught the fire and an explosion on video, which made its way to LinkedIn:

Anyone within the smoke plume, which wind was carrying north of the fire, was urged to shelter in place indoors by closing windows and doors and turning off air conditioning.

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

Fredericktown Fire Department, Cherokee Pass Fire Protection District, Madison County Ambulance District, Fredericktown Police Department, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, and Missouri State Highway Patrol were attending the blaze.

Madison County Sheriff Katy McCutcheon told local NBC affiliate KSDK that the call first came in at 1:37 p.m. and the fire had been mostly contained as of Wednesday evening. All of Route 72 was shut down from the Highway OO bypass to Lincoln Drive to keep the traffic out of the area so firetrucks could shuttle water.

There were no reported injuries at the time of the reports.

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

The 225,000-sq.-ft Critical Mineral Recovery battery processing plant in Fredericktown is headquartered in St. Louis, MO.

In a press release in November 2023, which announced the launch of the battery plant, CMR reported it would discharge up to 250 tons of lithium-ion batteries per day, process up to 6,000 tons per month, and send up to 99% of incoming battery contained nickel, cobalt, lithium, and copper to refineries and smelters for post-processing and critical mineral recovery.