LA County officials say smoke from Lineage Logistics Fire in Boyle Heights is not dangerous

L.A. County and city authorities said the smoke from Lineage Logistics Fire is not dangerous. 

During a press conference, officials said the fire is from a Class A combustible, meaning it is an ordinary solid material that leaves ashes when it burns, but it doesn’t have dangerous chemicals. 

LA County Deputy Fire Chief Derrik Chapman said the building was built like a cooler with very thick foam on the roof and walls. He said there were about 85 million pounds of perishable food. 

“So, access to this building has been very difficult. Normally, we will be able to open up the roof, let the fire free burn, let the materials burn off, which gives us clear access to what's burning. That's not the case with this building,” Chapman said. 

Five days after a fire started in Boyle Heights at a cold storage facility, hundreds of people arrived at a nearby church to get resources, including air purifiers, masks and boxes of food. 

People are worried about the non-stop smoke around the area and the potential sequels this fire may leave in the community. 

The fire started on June 17 at Lineage Logistics warehouse at 1400 S. Los Palos Street around 2:30 p.m. and since then, firefighters have been on scene battling flames and hot spots. 

A body shop business less than a block away from the epicenter had its doors open, but one of the employees was leaving. He said it was too dangerous to work, so his employer let him go for the day.

Juan Cadil, owner of the body shop, said he had the business open because he needs to work. He said when the fire started, it was further, but then they were required to leave out of an abundance of caution. However, he returned the next day.

“We have to work, rent here and rent at the house, we have bills to pay,” he said. 

“I have cars that I have to finish,” he said. “But I can’t go through because they have a van blocking my entrance.” 

At Our Lady of Victory Church, a few blocks away, Oscar Hernandez waited with his wife, Maria Hernandez, for about an hour to get an air purifier. They said they live very close to the facility and he saw when the fire started.

“It was something very small, we didn’t think much of it, but then it got bigger and bigger,” Oscar said. “My daughter called us and said to stay inside and close the doors and windows.”

Lucia, another resident who lives nearby, said she was arriving home when the fire started and since then, it has been chaotic due to the bad air quality around the area.

“It has been really bad since then,” she said. “A lot of black smoke.”

All of them received the air purifier and the Hernandezes were transported home via Uber, which was another resource provided by LA County. 

Chapman said that as of Sunday night, the city’s fire department started to deconstruct the building, pulling walls down, allowing the hose streams to put the fire out. 

Later in the day on Monday, in another press conference, Los Angeles City Fire Department Chief Jaime E. Moore said thanks to LA City Mayor Karen Bass and the LA County, they were able to free up resources and now they have additional assistance from the region. 

“So I would anticipate the smoke for about two more days, possibly three, but now we're going to extinguish the fire. We're going to do that aggressively,” he said. “Then we're going to be able to mitigate all the other hazards that are around the area and turn it back over to the building owner and occupant, so that they can actually deal with the product that's left behind.”

CALÓ News tried to obtain a comment from Lineage, but hasn’t received any response. 

Advice for the community 

Dr. Muntu Davis, health officer of Los Angeles County, said precautions should be considered depending on people’s health and personal circumstances. This includes moving items indoors and closing windows if the residents live near the affected area. 

Supervisor Solis said the county is providing help and resources to the community, including hundreds of air purifiers. She said they are giving one per household and they hope to help as many families as possible. 

She also said if people need to move out of their home to a place free of smoke, she suggests the Red Cross shelter in the City of Terrace. 

Davis said those who are using air conditioners should pay attention to the design and use the ones that circulate the air inside instead of those that pull air from outside.  

“Anything that pulls outdoor air in, don't use those. If you have a closed space and you're pulling outdoor air in, it's just compiling the air pollution inside of your home,” he said. “If you have a central HVAC system, many of those are sort of closed or they may have a recirculate function, so it just recirculates the indoor air, turn that on and run that, so it keeps moving the air through.”

To get information and additional resources, residents are encouraged to call 211.