The City Council on Monday heard an update on a fire that occurred at a storage area at Blue Whale Materials, located in the Bartlesville Industrial Park, in April, including several changes agreed to by BWM as a result of investigations into the incident.
The fire began just after 9 p.m. on April 14, and was quickly contained to the 80-foot by 80-foot storage facility in which it started. The fire has been ruled “Accidental/Unintentional” following an investigation by the Bartlesville Fire Department.
“All suppression operations were conducted using a defensive strategy due to the hazards associated with lithium-ion battery thermal runaway,” a summary report of the incident states. “Blue Whale Materials employees utilized forklifts and a skid steer to move pallets and spread burning product under the direction of incident command, allowing large-volume water streams to be applied to cool involved and adjacent batteries. The incident required a sustained water shuttle operation and mutual aid from multiple agencies. Operations ran from initial dispatch on the evening of April 14, 2026, through incident clearance at 12:28 hours on April 15, 2026; a total operational period exceeding 15 hours. No civilian or firefighter injuries were reported.”
Exact point of origin unknown
The exact origin point of the fire could not be conclusively determined, according to the report.
“No hard evidence was identified to support any external ignition source, incendiary act, or natural cause,” the report states. “The weight of evidence is consistent with spontaneous thermal runaway within one or more consumer-grade lithium-ion battery cells stored within the identified area of origin.
“The specific origin battery, pallet, or box from which the fire first initiated cannot be identified due to: total thermal destruction of the product in the origin area; physical displacement of pallets and battery debris during forklift and skid steer operations; and the homogeneous nature of the stored product precluding differentiation of origin material from secondary-involvement material.”
ODEQ soil testing
BWM Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer David Fauvre reported to the Council on actions BWM has taken (or is taking) as a result of the fire. He also answered a question asked by Ward 2 Councilor Larry East regarding whether the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality had issued its report on the potential for contaminants as a result of the fire.
“We met with the DEQ right after the fire and identified several sites for soil sampling,” Fauvre said. “We conducted the soil sampling and returned the results. They were all below the screening levels for the metals tested. ODEQ has reviewed those and said no further testing is necessary.”
Actions planned/taken by BWM
BWM has agreed to put several protocols in place as a result of findings revealed during the investigation, including:
- Installation of infrastructure necessary to protect the site against a worst-case fire or other catastrophic event
- Evaluation of overall emergency response strategy
- Provide copies of all emergency response plans required by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
- Establish a trained, professional fire brigade
- Procurement of advanced fire suppression solutions
- Acquire and maintain collapsible dump tanks to support tanker shuttle operations during emergency response
- Enhance detection and monitoring systems
- Incur costs associated for cleaning/replacement of City equipment
- Fire lane marking and signage, gate locks and emergency access
- Implement portable fire suppression improvements across site
For detailed information, see:
Bartlesville Fire Department incident report