Firefighters douse burning palm tree after battery fire: Video
Readers who saw the dramatic sight on Milvia Street shared photos and videos with The Scanner.
An exterior lithium ion battery caught fire at a North Berkeley home Sunday, quickly spreading to a towering palm tree nearby, according to early reports.
Readers who saw the dramatic sight, in the 1400 block of Milvia Street, near Vine Street, shared photos and videos with The Scanner.
Community members began calling 911 just after 3:30 p.m. to report flames "as tall as a gate" that grew to flames "as tall as the home" in just minutes, according to emergency dispatches reviewed by The Scanner.
Arriving Berkeley firefighters saw smoke coming from a detached shed as residents made their way outside.
It didn't take long for firefighters to determine that there had been no spread to the main house, according to radio dispatches.
There were no injuries.
Berkeley police helped with traffic control during the fire response.
Word quickly spread among those in the area about what happened.
Resident Tracey Bornstein told The Scanner that "an odor of electrical fire permeated the vicinity before the tree caught fire." He lives about two blocks from the site. "My neighbor and I both checked all our appliances for overheating."
As for the palm tree, Bornstein said, flames could be seen between the fronds "but they proved difficult to photograph."
Berkeley firefighters on Milvia Street on July 26, 2026. Tracey Bornstein
Aaron Gobler, who also lives in the neighborhood, was on the block during the emergency response.
"It looks like perhaps the fire company cut out part of the wall that the battery was attached to," he said. "They took the battery out on a dolly, and they wrapped it in plastic."
"It’s not clear how the fire got into the tree," Gobler continued. "It was just the top of the tree that was smoking."
Left: A Berkeley firefighter sprays water on the unit that caught fire. Juan Pineda | Right: Berkeley firefighters wheel out the battery. Aaron Gobler
BFD Battalion Chief DeJuan Turner told The Scanner that embers from the fire had drifted into the palm tree, which is right above where the battery is stored.
The residents use solar panels to charge the battery, which powers a Tesla at the home.
The Scanner updated this story slightly just after publication as additional details became available.
