By Jessica Jones-Gorman
Staten Island Advance
NEW YORK. — A labor union representing over 3,200 firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers, pilots, and other emergency personnel within the Los Angeles County Fire Department is speaking out against the construction of a battery energy storage system — one that is slated to rise next to an active fire station located in the heart of the California city.
“The siting of an ESS facility next to an occupied fire station — where firefighters work and reside twenty-four hours per day — constitutes an unacceptable, unsafe, and indefensible action that directly contradicts established fire protection engineering principles, firefighter safety standards, and the intent of applicable codes,” stated a letter penned by David Gillotte, president of the Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF ( International Association of Fire Fighters ) Local 1014.
| MORE: Lithium-ion battery fires: Understanding PPE contamination hazards
The letter, which was written on Local 1014 letterhead and addressed to Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, was circulated on several social media pages and called for an immediate “cease-and-desist” of consideration or approval of any energy storage system facility adjacent to Fire Station 43 or residential occupancies.
The union did not respond to a request for comment about the letter, which was dated Jan. 2, 2026, and referred to BESS facilities as “high-hazard” installations that present “uniquely severe risks.” But the missive was shared freely on Facebook by other communities who are battling the construction of battery energy storage systems where they live.
The Advance/SILive.com brought the letter to the attention of the FDNY, asking whether the NYC Fire Department shares the same concerns, particularly inquiring about a site currently under construction at 287 Nelson Ave., which is located directly across the street from Engine 162/Ladder 82 in Great Kills.
“Let’s be clear, keeping New Yorkers and our first responders safe will always be our top priority — it’s what the brave men and women of the FDNY do every single day,” an FDNY spokesperson noted in a statement. “At the same time, we are committed to a greener, more sustainable future for all. That’s why our fire code for energy storage systems is widely regarded as one of the most robust and strongest in the country — it’s considered a national benchmark for safety. We test facilities, enforce standards, and prepare for any potential emergencies like no other city, making our regulations the best fire code for energy storage in the nation.”
The FDNY noted that every BESS must pass full-scale fire testing, meet installation requirements, and get equipment approvals before it’s installed.
The agency stated that after installation it conducts thorough inspections, and systems must pass emergency shutdown tests before operating.
The FDNY also said that its Bureau of Operations and Special Operations studies current and emerging battery energy storage system technology and updates training and response procedures accordingly.
Still, New York City leaders questioned the siting of the facilities near homes, firehouses and other mixed-use areas.
“What more has to be said about these dangerously volatile and unproven facilities, when one of the largest firefighter unions in the country comes out against them being sited next to fire houses and in residential areas?” noted Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella.
A technology that uses a group of batteries to store electrical energy, allowing the energy to be released later when needed, the storage system sites — commonly referred to as BESS or ESS — essentially act as backup power sources for homes or the grid, particularly during peak demand or power outages. They are often used in conjunction with renewable energy sources like solar power.
Developers and green energy proponents tout the lithium-ion structures — which started popping up in several NYC neighborhoods in 2022 — as quiet neighbors that are a necessary agent for renewable change. They are designed to remove pressure from the city’s stressed grid, using rechargeable batteries to store electrical energy from various sources, and then releasing that stored energy when needed.
But over the past two years, Staten Island residents and borough officials have voiced concerns about their siting. Community Boards voted against their proximity to bakeries and storefronts and elected officials issued a moratorium on applications filed within residential districts. In one instance, an energy developer retracted plans to place batteries in a Bulls Head church parking lot.
“If the people who put their lives on the line fighting fires say that BESS units are too dangerous to be put next to homes, gas stations and fire houses, why is the City turning a blind eye to their proliferation here?” Fossella asked.
And according to DOB records, more are coming: Applications for 58 battery energy storage systems were approved by the NYC Department of Buildings in 2025 and another 98 are currently under evaluation for placement throughout the five boroughs. Those records noted that at least 15 of those BESS units are slated for Staten Island, with 10 additional sites under evaluation.
“We have said it before, and we will say it again: lithium-ion battery storage units pose a fundamental danger to the lives of first responders and residents and they have to be treated like it,” Fossella concluded. “If it wasn’t already evident by the many, many BESS fires that have happened across the country in the past few years, we need a permanent reversal of the policy siting these facilities in residential neighborhoods, now.”
© 2026 Staten Island Advance, N.Y..
Visit www.silive.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
