When a large battery used to power a neighborhood in Surprise failed and began smoking last year, firefighters didn't have a response plan for how to deal with the problem, which contributed to an explosion that injured several first responders.
That is one of the conclusions of a report released on Monday about the April 2019 explosion at the McMicken Energy Storage facility near Grand Avenue and Deer Valley Road, owned by Arizona Public Service Co.
Several other things went wrong and led to the explosion, but the lack of a plan contributed to the injuries because firefighters opened a door on the facility about two hours after arriving on the scene, and two minutes later, the facility exploded. That sent eight firefighters and one police officer to the hospital.