The warehouse fire has been extinguished, but many Boyle Heights residents say the biggest questions remain unanswered. Health experts are calling for more testing to determine whether toxic chemicals were released into nearby neighborhoods.
The Fire Is Out, but Boyle Heights Residents Still Want Answers
The warehouse fire has been extinguished, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, bringing relief to many residents. But for the people of Boyle Heights, the end of the fire marks the beginning of a new set of concerns.
“The problem is not over. We cannot be happy about this catastrophic situation we have been living through,” said Omar Nuñez, a longtime Boyle Heights resident. “We want to know when we will be able to go outside, return to our parks, and breathe clean air. We also want to know what substances we were breathing and what we were exposed to.”
For many residents, those questions remain unanswered.
Dr. Jill Johnston, an environmental health researcher at UC Irvine, said additional testing is needed to determine exactly what materials burned inside the warehouse and whether nearby communities were exposed to harmful chemicals.
“We know there’s foam in the building, plastics in the building, metal in the building,” Johnston said. “There’s a strong risk for toxic gases, as well as potential toxic metals and other things that are not just particulate matter.”
Air quality in Boyle Heights is expected to improve over the next several days as smoke from the fire continues to dissipate and weather conditions help clear pollutants from the air. Regional forecasts for the Los Angeles area indicate that air quality is trending from the Moderate range toward the Good range, which generally means cleaner air and lower levels of fine particle pollution.
Even so, health concerns remain. Residents are being encouraged to continue taking precautions while authorities and researchers work to better understand the fire’s long-term impacts.
City agencies and community organizations have distributed air purifiers and face masks to residents, emphasizing the importance of protecting families from potential exposure.
“I think as a community we are tired of being an afterthought,” said Raquel Román, executive director of a local community organization. “It’s always our communities that have to carry the brunt of that. Then when something like this happens, the resources are scarce.”
Román is urging residents to continue wearing masks until more information becomes available.
The Los Angeles Fire Department declared the Lineage cold storage warehouse fire under control Wednesday evening, eight days after flames first broke out at the facility on South Los Palos Street. Air quality advisories have since been lifted, and recent monitoring shows pollution levels in the moderate range.
Still, some residents and health experts say that does not answer a broader question: what hazardous materials may have been released when the warehouse burned.
Air quality conditions in Boyle Heights can vary throughout the day depending on wind direction and lingering smoke. If current trends continue, residents should experience noticeably better air quality by the weekend. Health officials nevertheless recommend checking local air quality readings before spending extended periods outdoors, particularly for people with asthma, heart disease, lung conditions, or other sensitivities.
Some residents said they remained indoors for much of the fire because they feared the smoke would worsen existing health problems.
“It’s been really bad. My throat has been burning a lot,” said Maria Flores. “I thought I was coming down with the flu, but it turns out it’s the air.”
While the visible smoke has largely disappeared, researchers note that air quality monitors alone cannot determine every potential health risk associated with a fire involving industrial materials.
Meanwhile, the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Lineage has said it believes the blaze began while contractors with Altus Power were testing a rooftop solar array. Altus Power has disputed that conclusion.
