In a public-comment period at the Oct. 14 Skagit County commissioners meeting, Ingrid Hinton, speaking on behalf of EV Fire Safe, urged the board to scrutinize a proposed lithium battery project located about 0.25 miles from Padilla Bay and close to Viva Farms, saying the site’s proximity to waterways and farmland raised fire-safety concerns.

Hinton described a Sacramento incident on April 11, 2025, in which, she said, a high-speed electric-vehicle collision scattered lithium iron cells and produced a vapor cloud during post-crash handling. She said four firefighters suffered inhalation injuries and remained unable to return to work as of Sept. 28, 2025. "In the post operation cleanup ... the vehicle battery pack vented the vapor cloud on being moved for towing, and 4 firefighters suffered inhalation injuries," she said.

Hinton told commissioners the apparent safety claims for the local site were a marketing tactic. "The illusion that this is an industrial land makes it safer. It's away from, that it's away from critical waterways or farmland is a marketing tactic to lead you to believe it won't affect anything if it catches fire," she said. She also alleged the contractor ‘‘lied on his application, not provided emergency plans, and allowed them to change their fire designation without resubmit.’’ She added, "They lied in their SEPTA. This is all unacceptable."

Hinton said further materials and details about the incident and its implications for emergency responders would be shared in coming weeks and urged the county to require full safety processes before issuing permits.

The transcript records Hinton’s claims and her reference to EV Fire Safe and the April 11, 2025 incident; it does not record any staff response, formal county finding, or permit action during the meeting. The county did not state compliance or enforcement findings in the public-comment period.

No motion or formal action on the site was recorded during the meeting.