HOLT, Fla., Oct. 2, 2026—Holt Fire District responded to a fire in a battery storage field at the Kayak Energy Storage Center located on Wilkerson Bluff Road at 7:50 a.m. today.
The call initially came in as a “small brush fire,” but once Holt Fire was on site, it became evident that it was much more serious than that and was possibly spreading.
When Holt firefighters Justin Barrow and Javier Steele arrived at on scene with Foam 31 and Engine 32, Barrow immediately called for Baker and Harold Fire Districts to assist. A heat signature reading of the fire from approximately 300 feet away indicated a temperature of 932 degrees.
However, once it became apparent that the fire was contained to a single power inverter box and was not going to spread to the other 23 inverters or 24 battery storage containers surrounding it, the support units were called off.
Florida Power & Light shut down the power to the battery field, but the battery storage containers still held a charge, adding an element of danger to the situation. The inverter where the fire was burning did not carry a charge.
After a while, the visible fire burned itself out, but the inverter box continued to smolder for the next four hours as Holt Fire stood on standby to apply a layer of foam to douse any lingering sparks.
Once firefighters had access to the scene, it only took about 5 minutes to apply the foam to the smoldering inverter.
Holt Fire responded with its newest firefighting vehicle, Foam 31, which was put into service just last night. This vehicle was designed specifically for use among Holt’s two solar fields located on Wilkerson Bluff and Garner Landing roads.
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This was the first time a fire was detected among the battery storage area at the Kayak solar farm, so it took everyone an extra amount of time to go through all the procedures to isolate the impacted area and make it safe for firefighters to operate.
Had this been a more serious fire, response time would have been more immediate, according to FPL engineers.
This is the first actual fire call at the Kayak solar farm. There was a medical emergency call there a while ago.
What caused the blaze at Kayak is not know at this time.
