The animal was first reported in the 700 block of North Grape Street, according to police in the San Diego County city of Escondido. The neighborhood visited by the cougar is several miles from the closest foothills.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife also responded to the scene, police said. Officials used staff on the ground and drones in the air to monitor the animal’s location.

After wandering near homes and businesses, the big cat reportedly took refuge underneath a pickup truck at an apartment complex, NBC7 in San Diego reported.

Fish and Wildlife officials tranquilized the animal with a game dart, after which the mountain lion ran east over a fence before the dart started taking effect. It then fell asleep and was captured shortly after 7 p.m.

Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Steve Gonzalez told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the mountain lion is a 3-year-old male and was given an ear tag and collar before it was released into the Cleveland National Forest on Tuesday night. Facebook members who responded to the Escondido police online post expressed relief that the mountain lion was not euthanized.

“So pleased it’s been sedated and removed. Great job!” wrote one Facebook follower.

Mountain lions are considered a “specially protected mammal” and are illegal to hunt for sport in California.

The post Mountain lion wanders near SoCal homes, crawls under a vehicle before being sedated appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

SAN DIEGO, CA — Following last week’s lithium battery fire resulting in evacuation orders and warnings at a San Diego Gas & Electric battery storage facility in Escondido, the County Board of Supervisors will consider putting a pause on future such facilities.

The action in front of the supervisors on Wednesday will present several options to the board. The body can request additional fire suppression technical reports and/or include new disclosure requirements to make any new battery energy storage systems go “above and beyond” current code requirements.

Additionally, they will have the choice to put a temporary moratorium on the acceptance of new BESS applications or adopt an urgency ordinance requiring new facilities to use modular designs and follow National Fire Protection Association guidelines.

The item was already scheduled for the board but gained more urgency following the Thursday afternoon fire at the SDG&E facility. The fire was allowed to burn out by itself — per industry standard, a statement from the Escondido Fire Department read.

Just one of the site’s 24 cells caught fire.

While no one was injured by the fire, evacuation orders were issued to businesses in the largely industrial part of the city.

The moratorium the supervisors will discuss couldn’t come any sooner, some residents say.

“Area residents are renewing their call for the county to issue a moratorium on building new lithium battery storage facilities in neighborhoods,” reads a statement from a group of citizens, including JP Theberge of the Elfin Forest Harmony Grove Town Council and Joe Rowley, a retired engineer and battery storage facility developer.

“The Escondido battery fire is unfolding in an industrial area away from homes and residences. However, it reinforces the concerns of residents that a project that is 10 times larger (the Seguro project) is being proposed, which would be surrounded by hundreds of homes and upwind from a hospital in northern San Diego County, near Escondido,” they write. “Despite the current fire being in an industrial area, hundreds of businesses were evacuated and many more were told to shelter-in-place. Schools located downwind were closed today as well.”

Should the supervisors elect the moratorium route, it could freeze the proposed AES’ Seguro storage project in Escondido, not far from where Thursday’s fire took place. This project would be capable of storing up to 320 megawatts or 1,280 megawatt hours worth of energy — several times larger than the facility where the fire continues to burn.

Without the BESS facilities, the county could have a difficult time meeting its climate goals.

The battery storage facilities are a component of the county’s respond to green energy, storing energy from renewable sources such as solar or wind to use as needed. They are intended as an alternative or at least a supplement to fossil fuel energies such as natural gas and oil.

Since 2021, there have been 45 fires at similar BESS facilities, including one at the Otay Mesa battery storage earlier this year and one in Valley Center last year.

The post Board To Consider Battery Storage Site Pause Following Lithium Fire appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.