Local emergency declared in LA as Boyle Heights warehouse blaze continues to smolder

Firefighters faced renewed challenges Saturday astatine a ample Boyle Heights acold retention installation fire, wherever conditions stay highly analyzable arsenic Mayor Karen Bass declared a section exigency to enactment effect efforts.

The occurrence was first reported connected Wednesday day astatine the 500,000-square-foot Lineage Big Bear installation astatine 1400 S. Los Palos Street, which is utilized to store frozen foods.

"The champion mode to picture this is similar a elephantine cooler," said L.A. Fire Chief Jamie Moore, who added that the operation was built with corrugated alloy walls filled with dense foam insulation and reinforced interior alloy panels. 

The gathering besides utilized ammonia successful its refrigeration strategy to support highly debased temperatures for frozen nutrient storage, which whitethorn person fueled the occurrence connected its archetypal time of burning.

"Imagine your refrigerator having a fire. And so, you person the ammunition of the extracurricular and the ammunition connected the inside," Moore said during a quality league connected Saturday afternoon. "What protects everything from the weather, oregon immoderate the somesthesia is connected the outside, is the rubber. ... If you tin imagine, that's precisely what's happening here."

He said that with the assistance of water-dropping helicopters, LAFD crews person controlled the occurrence to astir fractional of the building. The unaffected half, however, is filled with nutrient that has begun to thaw arsenic they had to crook disconnected the refrigeration strategy and region ammonia from inside. He said that the interior somesthesia of the gathering remains astatine astir 45 degrees due to the fact that of the insulation.

Moore said the quality of the materials wrong has made the occurrence hard to control, arsenic the foam insulation continues to pain dilatory erstwhile ignited. 

Crews person relied connected continuous chopper h2o drops since the commencement of the incidental to support the operation cooled and forestall further escalation. Officials person besides utilized ample aerial ladder pipes, directing thousands of gallons of h2o per infinitesimal onto the gathering to incorporate the blaze.

"We stepped up our game. I reached retired to the region and we started utilizing declaration helicopters," Moore said. "Our declaration helicopters ... driblet astir 3,000 gallons of h2o astatine 1 time. On apical of that, we're capable to incorporated blaze tamer gel, which is simply a occurrence retardant gel, which is gonna assistance encapsulate the fume ... and smother the fire."

So far, helium said that the process has been effectual arsenic they've helped chill things down and further mitigate the occurrence burning the roof. 

At astir 5:10 p.m. connected Sunday, aerial footage showed different flare-up successful the occurrence connected the extortion of the building. Another monolithic plume of fume extended into the aerial arsenic the occurrence appeared to beryllium burning down the exterior partition and onto a little roof. 

Smoke billowing from the acold retention installation successful Boyle Heights connected Saturday, June 20, 2026, astir 4 days aft the occurrence archetypal started. CBS LA

85 cardinal pounds of frozen nutrient complicate firefighting efforts

With an estimated 85 cardinal pounds of frozen nutrient inactive wrong the facility, firefighters accidental entree is highly constricted owed to zero visibility and unstable interior conditions. 

"All that nutrient is dilatory opening to rot. It's nary longer frozen. It's warming up and it's going to commencement to spoil," Moore said. "Initially it was reported to america that the bulk of that merchandise was breadstuff and wheat products. However, we're dilatory learning arsenic we get into this gathering that it's acold from that; there's a batch of nutrient products."

Moore said that chicken, beef, pork and food were being stored inside.

Officials stressed that crews are not entering the gathering oregon attempting to manually region product. Instead, they are moving to isolate unaffected areas portion evaluating however to safely region remaining goods earlier spoilage creates further biohazard concerns.

"What we are trying to bash present is to fig retired the uninvolved country – however we tin region that nutrient earlier it starts spoiling and becoming a biohazard concern," Moore added.

Authorities said hazardous worldly risks person mostly been mitigated, but the concern is present shifting toward imaginable biohazard issues arsenic nutrient wrong the installation remains unrecovered. Officials emphasized that the precedence is determining however to safely negociate and region the stored merchandise portion maintaining containment.

No injuries reported; nary evacuation oregon shelter-in-place orders issued

Despite the severity of the incident, officials noted that nary firefighters oregon civilians person been injured. Residents were advised that portion fume whitethorn beryllium irritating—particularly for those delicate to aerial quality—there is presently nary bid for evacuation oregon shelter-in-place, contempt a akin bid already having been issued and lifted twice since the fire's ignition.

"If you are delicate to smoke, delight beryllium cognizant of that and effort to enactment indoors," cautioned Moore. "But determination is thing successful the aerial that is truthful unsafe that we person to bash evacuations oregon adjacent shelter-in-place."

Mayor Karen Bass said her main interest was for the public's information and health.

"We're not acrophobic successful presumption of the occurrence spreading oregon thing similar that. But we are acrophobic astir the biohazard smoke. No fume is good, but particularly the fume that could beryllium toxic due to the fact that of the chemicals that were needed to  support the nutrient frozen successful the facility," Bass said.

Two shelter locations person opened to enactment anyone affected by the fire, including astatine the Pecan Recreation Center, which is located astatine 145 S. Pecan Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033 and City Terrace Park, which is located astatine 1126 N. Hazard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90063.  

"We are going to beryllium distributing masks and aerial filters, convey you to the Red Cross and our different partners," said Bass, who said she anticipates talking to Governor Newsom aboriginal successful the time to contented a associated exigency declaration.

"The Governor volition beryllium prepared to respond to our State of the Emergency erstwhile that is acceptable with immoderate resources we request to bash what the Chief described, which is moving the toxic materials distant from present and disposing of them successful a mode that we volition avert a large biology disaster," Bass said. "This is astir prevention. This is astir protecting our public's health."

Black fume rises from a warehouse occurrence successful Boyle Heights arsenic seen from downtown Los Angeles connected June 17, 2026. Etienne LAURENT /AFP via Getty Images

Bass issues exigency declaration for resources

By afternoon, the politician issued an exigency declaration, citing the standard and complexity of the incident. 

The declaration is intended to supply the metropolis with greater flexibility to coordinate exigency effect efforts, unafraid further resources, behaviour biology remediation, and question authorities and national assistance.  

"While the LAFD continues making progress, this is simply a major, multi-jurisdictional incident. I'm issuing an exigency declaration to guarantee the City has the resources it needs arsenic this cognition continues and to support the assemblage safe," said Mayor Bass. "The City and County person opened spaces for families seeking alleviation from the smoke, and we volition proceed moving astir the timepiece and doing everything imaginable to enactment this occurrence retired completely."

During Saturday afternoon's quality conference, Bass said that the associated authorities of exigency was filed with Gov. Gavin Newsom's office. 

She said that the Emergency Operations Center has been activated and that they've asked Newsom to waive regulations that could hinder effect and betterment efforts, and that betterment assistance beryllium made disposable done the state. 

"We fundamentally told the politician that we volition beryllium successful interaction from the region and the metropolis successful presumption of ongoing requests for communal assistance arsenic good arsenic monetary assistance truthful that we tin get this occupation done," Bass said. "Our concern, obviously, is putting retired the fire, but to larn what was successful this retention halfway ... truly presents an wholly antithetic picture."

LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis besides spoke astatine Saturday's conference. 

"I'm profoundly acrophobic astir the interaction connected our residents," Solis said. "The radius of the occurrence extends to astir 2.5 miles. In unincorporated East Los Angeles we're talking astir 250,000 households. That's wherefore this is important."

Residents question semipermanent wellness impacts

The extortion continued to smolder astatine a Lineage Logistics acold retention installation successful Boyle Heights, CA connected Thursday, June 18, 2026. There were questions astir the aerial prime and imaginable wellness risks from ammonia that leaked during the blaze. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

As suppression efforts continued, residents voiced concerns astir the imaginable semipermanent biology and wellness impacts connected the surrounding community. 

On Saturday afternoon, South Coast Air Quality Management District officials said that a particle contamination advisory was extended until astatine slightest 12:30 p.m. Sunday. They said that aft the fire's reignition connected Friday night, sensors showed that PM2.5 levels were unhealthy.

Lineage, the building's tenant and operator, released a connection indicating that the occurrence whitethorn person originated from enactment being performed by a third-party contractor handling star panels connected the roof. 

"Lineage is the tenant-operator of this building," the institution said successful a statement. "At this time, we judge the occurrence began portion investigating was being conducted by contractors of the third-party proprietor of the star array located connected the facility's roof. This installation is not utilized for the retention of hazardous materials. It chiefly serves arsenic a temperature-controlled retention installation for frozen nutrient earlier it makes its mode to Greater Los Angeles country communities and beyond. Our knowing from LAFD and AQMD is that determination person been nary measurable ammonia concentrations recorded successful the assemblage since the occurrence started. Additionally, Lineage has proactively taken further steps to pump retired the ammonia and transport it offsite, removing the anticipation of ammonia posing a hazard to the community. This installation and the proviso concatenation it connects with employment hundreds of section jobs. We are grateful that nary squad members astatine the installation were harmed."

Meanwhile, occurrence crews proceed to show the operation and set tactics arsenic they enactment to incorporate the long-burning concern occurrence and trim biology and wellness impacts to surrounding communities. Authorities cautioned that extinguishing the occurrence could instrumentality days oregon adjacent weeks. 

"I bash privation to beryllium transparent to the public: this enactment is acold from over. Because of the monolithic standard of this acold retention facility, heavy pockets of smoldering occurrence stay buried nether structural debris and star panels," said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Jon O'Brien. "Our metropolis firefighting brothers and sisters are executing a meticulous, profoundly challenging cognition to bring the occurrence nether control. Because of this, incidental operations volition proceed into the foreseeable future." 

Residents who announcement antithetic odors, smoke, dust, oregon different aerial prime concerns are urged to study them to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Complaints tin beryllium submitted by calling 1-800-CUT-SMOG (1-800-288-7664), oregon by utilizing the agency's online ailment strategy to study aerial contaminants some indoors and outdoors. To presumption existent aerial quality, download the South Coast AQMD app or visit www.aqmd.gov/AQImap.