Summerside Solar Farm Fire Prompts Evacuation of 500-Metre Radius

Residents in part of Summerside, P.E.I., were told to seal themselves indoors Monday morning after a fire broke out at the city-owned Summerside Sunbank Solar/Battery Farm.

Officials said the fire began at about 5:30 a.m. in the solar farm’s battery system. The affected site is a 21.6-megawatt facility that opened in 2024.

South Drive residents warned

Summerside police and firefighters told residents along South Drive, from MacKenzie Drive to Bayview Drive, to shelter in place as crews responded to the fire.

The instructions were direct: stay indoors, close windows and doors, and turn off ventilation systems that draw outside air into homes or businesses. The precautions were driven by concerns about smoke, fumes and air quality.

J.P. Desrosiers, Summerside’s chief administrative officer, described the response as cautious because of the nature of the fire.

“With any battery fire there can be toxins in terms of smoke in the area,” Desrosiers said in source reporting. He also urged residents to “stay cozy inside” while crews worked.

South Drive was closed to traffic from Greenwood Drive to Putters Street during the emergency response.

Fire contained, crews remain

Emergency crews contained the fire on Monday, but their work did not end there. Firefighting and monitoring continued afterward at the Sunbank site.

Desrosiers said battery fires are not like more familiar structure fires.

“Battery fires... are stubborn,” he said. “It’s not the same scenario as the typical fire structure when it comes to a battery array.”

He said crews were focused on keeping the area safe while dealing with the fire’s behaviour.

Summerside Deputy Mayor Cory Snow also framed the public-safety approach around caution, saying officials wanted to keep restrictions in place “until we feel it is safe for our residents and people to get back out into the public and go [about] their day as normal.”

Evacuation and reception centre

According to CTV News, by Monday afternoon officials urged residents within about 500 metres of the scene to evacuate.

CTV also reported that a reception centre opened at St. Eleanors Community Centre for affected residents.

The fire also prompted school closures in Summerside, including the Three Oaks Family of Schools. That added a broader disruption to the city as emergency crews continued their response at the solar and battery facility.

Air and water concerns

Officials’ early public messaging centred on limiting exposure to smoke and fumes. Residents in the affected stretch of South Drive were told to keep outside air from entering their homes as much as possible.

Yahoo News reported that city officials asked the province to assess air quality. Yahoo also reported that downstream water testing was underway for possible contaminants.

Desrosiers said residents had raised concerns about “the risk of toxins being in the air.” He described what officials were watching for as “an unusual smell or an electrical burning smell” and urged people noticing that kind of odour to keep windows closed and shut off outside-air ventilation systems.

For Summerside residents near the scene, the practical advice remained simple during the response: stay inside, keep outside air out, avoid the area, and give emergency crews room to work.

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