Jan 17 (Reuters) - A fire at a battery facility on the

site of Vistra Corp's ( VST ) Moss Landing power plant in

Monterey County, California has prompted orders for the

evacuation of places nearby, the company and county officials

said on Thursday.

The fire began in a building that contains lithium-ion

batteries on Thursday afternoon, an official at the Monterey

County Sheriff's office said, adding that about 40% of the

building had been consumed as of late Thursday.

The battery energy storage facility at Moss Landing is

among the largest in the world, according to Vistra's ( VST ) website.

Both Vistra ( VST ) and the county official said that all site

personnel had been evacuated and no injuries were reported.

"There are no active fire suppression efforts going on,

as the best approach, according to fire staff, is to allow the

building and batteries to burn," according to the Monterey

Sheriff official.

An adjacent Tesla battery facility was not affected by

the fire, the official added.

Some roads, including the Highway 1, were closed in the

affected areas.

The plant is located about 100 miles (160 km) south of

San Francisco and is not close to the ongoing wildfires in the

southern Californian city of Los Angeles.

The state has been on alert since the Los Angeles fires

started about 10 days ago and has killed

at least 27 people

.