Ruby Alvarado arrived early to drop off her son Zachriah Alvarado at Eastman Avenue Elementary School, the elementary school closest to the Lineage cold storage warehouse that caught fire in June 

Zachriah, who is entering second grade, was covering his nose with his shirt as he waited for the school gates to open. 

“It’s a very unfortunate situation,” Ruby told CALÓ News. “We are outside right now and coming close to the school; you can see and smell what [the fire] has left behind.” 

A day before the return to school, LAUSD announced that schools in Boyle Heights and neighboring communities were “safe for occupancy.” 

Parents and guardians arrived to send off their kids into the 2025–2026 school year as LAUSD schools reopened today, many hugging, kissing or taking pictures of them outside of the elementary school. 

But at Eastman, which has approximately 500 students and most of whom are Latinos, the return to school did not only involve readjusting to sleep schedules and gathering school supplies but also dealing with lingering health anxiety from the Lineage fire. 

For many, the milestone of entering a new school grade was shadowed by the lingering smell of rotten food and numerous flies. 

LAUSD says students and staff are not at risk 

According to their 561-page analytical report, in July and August, the LAUSD's Office of Environmental Health and Safety collected air samples from the school’s indoor and outdoor locations, dust wipe samples from high-touch surface areas and soil samples from potential deposition zones such as unpaved areas and gardens. 

Air samples were also analyzed for ammonia, formaldehyde and hydrogen fluoride, along with dust wipe and soil samples that were analyzed for selected metals. 

Despite all that extensive testing, LAUSD concluded that the Lineage fire “did not result in widespread residual contamination or conditions” at any LAUSD campuses and that there were no health hazards for students or staff.

But for many parents like Ruby, no prominent safety hazards equates to adequate conditions for students, teachers and staff. “I know they have done some cleaning and testing [in the school], but the smell is still in the air. I mean, you can see the flies right now,” she said, pointing to the flies circulating around her and Zachriah. 

Ruby said that the school notified parents that they would have an air purifier in each class, which has an average of 20 students.

"One purifier for a class is not enough when the [warehouse] is still being cleaned. It’s been such a slow process; I wonder if that would be the same if this were a wealthier area,” she said.

Other parents like Irene said they did not receive much information from the school itself. 

“I still do not know if they are going to be eating outside or inside,” she said. “I hope it's inside because these flies are big and I’m worried about what diseases they can bring if they land on the kids' food.”

Lineage today

As of August 11, 2026, Lineage reported that approximately 92% of the bulk food waste has been removed from the fire-damaged Boyle Heights cold storage warehouse. 

During the same time that Eastman Avenue Elementary School students returned to their classrooms, Lineage cleaning operations continued.

Outside of the facility, waste materials are moving and there seem to be active odor-control sprays, yet residents still face lingering odor and pest issues. 

On Monday, two days before the school opened, Lineage said they remain committed to “finishing the job right.” 

“We are acutely aware that LAUSD schools in the area are scheduled to reopen this week and that residents have endured the effects of this fire for weeks,” the company said in a statement.  “That is precisely why we have not slowed down.” 

Irene, who has kids in second and fifth grade, said she decided not to disclose all the details about the fire and the environmental issues that it has caused to her kids. “They know the building burned and I tell them we need to stay inside and close the window to stay safe, but I’m not telling them all the details on this because I do not want to stress them out more,” she said. 

She said she hopes school gives her and other kids a space where they can decompress, learn and “simply be kids.” 

Kids, from one closed space to another

Ermelinda Brioniz, who was leaving after dropping off her son, Leonardo Brioniz, said for many kids in Boyle Heights and East L.A., returning to school is just going to be coming from one closed space to another. 

“At home, during summer break, the kids had to be inside because of the pollution and smell; today they go back to school, where they will also need to be inside the whole day, no outside activities, no nothing and that’s bittersweet,” she said. 

Despite this, she said her son, Leonardo Brioniz, left the house excited to start second grade.

“The fire might be out, but there are things that still remain, but as parents, we hope this does not affect the kids that much,” she said.  “We live about a mile away, and these days, in the morning, we open the window and the smell still reaches us sometimes. It's a smell that, if you pass by, is not as strong, but if you smell it for an hour or so more, it irritates you and makes your head hurt.” 

Brioniz said her son has asthma, which worries her even more. 

“As I said bye to him, all I can do is reassure him that he is safe in school as long as he is inside. I told him that if anything happens, he should call me and I told him he should wear a mask if need be,” she said.

Community support 

Apart from parents, students and school staff, there were other groups of people outside of Eastman Avenue Elementary School: community advocates and environmental justice organizers.

Equipped with extra masks to hand out and resource information, community advocates, some in groups and others alone, stood outside of the elementary in support of students and the local community. 

One of these people was Yesenia Pum, an organizer with Protect LA Now, a regional community advocacy coalition, who has advocated for additional state action and health protections regarding the cold storage warehouse fire. 

Holding up a poster with the words “environmental racism,” Pum stood outside the elementary school offering kids and parents face masks and asking parents to take their kids to the school nurse if they had any health symptoms so that they could be documented. 

“This is environmental racism,” Pum said. “The fact that they were unwilling to relocate students to different campuses is a clear example of that.” 

Pum, who has many family members who previously attended Eastman Avenue Elementary School, said she decided to come to the school this morning to remind community members and parents that they are not alone. 

“These kids deserved a better summer, a better school year altogether,” she said. 

Another community organization outside of the elementary school was Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización, a grassroots community organization made up of residents in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights that has advocated for the permanent closure of a Lineage Logistics cold-storage facility. 

Eloisa Galindo, a community organizer with the group, was one of the people handing out flyers containing hotlines where people can report air quality, sanitation and pest issues. 

“We are here informing and trying to organize parents to report any air quality and odor issues,” she said. “We know many parents are busy throughout the day, so we are coming to them with resources and numbers to call in case they are experiencing health and environmental issues.” 

Galindo, who has two kids in LAUSD schools, said she does not think Lineage will meet the initial mayoral emergency deadline of Friday. 

“I think we will have to have Lineage around for much more time. They can't continue to lie, saying that everyone affected has been provided with resources and nothing dangerous is happening because that is not true,” she said.

Galindo said that in her time organizing a majority of older, Spanish-speaking community members, she has heard numerous testimonies from people who have been affected not only physically but also economically by the fire. 

“Many families have had to miss work to go to the doctor and clinics for health issues caused by these fires. Many of them do not have health insurance and have to pay out of pocket,” she said. “We ask [local] leaders to put those people first above the multi-million-dollar company that is Lineage. Community must be first.”