Fire at Battery Facility Prompts Business Evacuations

The Redlands Fire Department responded Tuesday evening to a fire at an industrial battery manufacturing facility located at 840 W. Brockton Avenue. At about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, a fire was reported in the formation area of the Teledyne Battery Products facility. Upon arrival, fire units discovered light smoke emanating from the building. Because of the arid smoke and chemical smell, businesses in the vicinity, and in the path of the smoke, were evacuated as a precaution. Evacuated businesses included The Home Depot, Jack in the Box, 7-Eleven and Toyota of Redlands. Several streets in the vicinity of the incident were closed to traffic including Lugonia Avenue from Texas Street to New York Street, New York between Lugonia and Colton Avenue, and Brockton Avenue from Texas to New York. The fire was quickly contained with no reported injuries. Redlands Fire units were assisted by Redlands Police, Colton Fire, Loma Linda Fire, Yucaipa (Cal-Fire), and San Bernardino County Hazardous Materials Unit.