Battery Energy Storage Systems Assisting LA Wildfire Recovery
2025 Impact Map by Steady Hand Maps.
Assessing a Complex Wildfire Disaster Recovery
As multiple wildfires burned across Los Angeles County in early 2025, we partnered with the local film industry and the National Forest Service to replace 4 large diesel generators with solar and battery energy storage systems.
A team led by Footprint Project and Overdrive Energy Solutions worked with the U.S. Forest Service to replace diesel generators with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs) at the Eaton Fire Incident Command (IC) Post at the Rose Bowl Stadium. The Rose Bowl Stadium and surrounding parking lots had been turned into a massive incident command post. Agencies involved included LA Fire, LA County Fire, CAL Fire, LAPD, and the U.S. Forest Service. Because the Eaton Fire was burning on federal forest service land, the U.S. Forest Service was leading the operation. During this crisis, the stadium turned into a staging ground for over 4,000 firefighters, National Guard troops, and first responders from city, state, county, and federal agencies.
Shifting from Diesel to Battery Energy Storage Systems
After assessing potential sites, we took 4 large diesel generators powering 4 different command sites offline. Instead, these sites ran completely on battery generated power. Equipment included a Tesla Megapack Charger: a massive battery generator on a flatbed trailer the length of a semi-truck with over 3 Megawatt hours of energy storage. This allowed us to support all 4 demo sites by using it as the primary charging hub for the smaller BESS trailers and battery generators through a “battery swap” (or “hub and spoke”) style model. We believe it was the largest replacement and offset of fossil fuel generators at a command post run by the U.S. Forest Service.
We’re also proud to have supported Integrative Healers Action Network with solar and battery power for their pop-up wellness center for firefighters and first responders. They offered nebulizer treatment to detox and heal lungs, massage, physical therapy, chiropractic care, and acupuncture with Acupuncturists Without Borders.
Footprint Project’s Impact on the LA Wildfire Response
Our 2025 Impact on the LA Wildfires, by the numbers:
10 sites supported
665 first responders and survivors directly supported with emergency power
Over 2,500 gallons of diesel avoided by replacing diesel generators with solar and battery energy storage systems
$183k value provided
Outgoing in-kind donations value: $83k
Regional programs: $100k
After the Fire - Northern California
We’re always building and preparing for the next disaster, even at a conference! In September 2025, we attended the After the Fire Wildfire Leadership Summit. Our team and volunteers installed a battery system in a volunteer fire department’s trailer that we solarized at the previous year’s event. Always looking to improve systems, we also invited our friends at the Sacramento Environmental Justice Coalition to swap out their old lead-acid batteries for new lithium batteries.
Our impact at this summit included;
2 solar + battery mobile microgrids for CA resilience
$20k in donated In-kind equipment