An explosion tore through the Cirba Solutions battery recycling plant on Quarry Road in Lancaster, Ohio, just after 1 p.m. Thursday, wrecking machinery, the roof and exterior equipment before the building was evacuated and the fire that followed was put out. No employees were hurt, and by the time emergency crews cleared the scene, all surrounding roads had reopened.
According to myfox28columbus.com, the explosion happened at 1:15 p.m. at the Cirba Solutions facility, and the blast caused significant damage to machinery, the roof and exterior equipment, according to the Fairfield County Emergency Management Agency. The outlet reported that the fire has since been extinguished and that all roads have reopened following the incident, which was also covered by WSYX.
An investigation into the cause of the explosion was underway, though it was not immediately clear what triggered the blast or how much the damage might cost to repair. The Quarry Road plant extracts materials like lithium, nickel and cobalt from used batteries and recycles them for use in new batteries, per the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette.
A Plant Mid-Expansion
The Lancaster site has been in growth mode. The Eagle-Gazette has reported that the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Cirba Solutions a grant of about $75 million to expand and upgrade its lithium-ion recycling operations there, while a separate statement from the company describes an over $82 million Department of Energy grant supporting what it called a more than $200 million expansion. The two accounts differ on the exact grant figures and should not be read as describing the same number.
The Eagle-Gazette has also reported that the company previously announced plans for a $250 million expansion, with a new building expected to open adjacent to its existing site at 295 Quarry Road SE, and that the project is expected to create up to 150 jobs. Cirba Solutions has separately said its broader investment in the battery recycling sector tops $1 billion over five years, with plans to increase its material processing capabilities by 600%.
Battery Fires Trending Upward Nationally
Thursday's blast lands amid a documented rise in fires tied to lithium-ion batteries at waste and recycling facilities. Resource Recycling has reported that 2025 was the worst year on record for publicly reported waste and recycling facility fires in the United States and Canada since tracking began in 2016, with 448 such fires counted that year compared with 430 in the previous record year and an annual average of 360.
The same outlet reported that lithium-ion batteries, including those found in everyday consumer products, have become the leading cause of fires at waste and recycling facilities across North America, and that publicly reported fires tied to disposable vaping devices rose roughly 26% from 2022 to 2025 compared with the 2016-2021 average. An EPA report has separately noted that recycling centers and other waste facilities have seen an increased number of fires linked to lithium-ion batteries, though it cautioned that national fire-incident data remains limited.
It has not been established whether lithium-ion batteries played any role in what happened at the Lancaster plant Thursday, and the cause of the explosion remains under investigation. For now, the key facts on the ground are straightforward: the building was cleared, the fire is out, the roads are open again, and everyone inside made it out safely.
