LA Declares State of Emergency as Boyle Heights Warehouse Fire Burns Into Fourth Day

A freezer on fire, four days and counting

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a local state of emergency on Saturday as a massive cold-storage warehouse fire in the Boyle Heights neighborhood burned into its fourth consecutive day, sending thick smoke across the region and triggering urgent public health warningslatimes. The blaze broke out June 17 at the Lineage Logistics facility at 1400 S. Los Palos Street — roughly 500,000 square feet, about the size of ten football fields — storing approximately 85 million pounds of frozen foodnytimes. No injuries have been reportedcbsnews.

Why the fire has defied firefighters

LAFD Fire Chief Jamie Moore called it "a very unique fire, a very unique challenge," explaining that the building is essentially an industrial freezer: corrugated steel walls packed with dense foam insulation that burns slowly and emits gaslatimes. An ammonia leak from the refrigeration system forced crews into a defensive posture within minutes of arrival, triggering the first of two shelter-in-place orders that were later liftedlafd. Solar panels on the roof ignited and added complexity, while zero visibility inside has prevented ground crews from enteringnytimes. Firefighters have relied on an unusual mix of water-dropping helicopters — contract aircraft capable of releasing 3,000 gallons at a time — and large aerial ladder pipes to contain the fire to roughly half the buildingcbsnews.

85 million pounds of spoiling food, an emerging biohazard

With the refrigeration system shut down, all 85 million pounds of frozen food — chicken, beef, pork, fish, and wheat products — are thawing and beginning to rotfoxla. "The food's not savable, unfortunately," Moore said Saturday. "What we're dealing with now is 85 million pounds of food that's about to go bad and to spoil — it's a biohazard emergency and that's why we've called out to the state."foxla Lineage, the Michigan-based tenant-operator, said it believes the fire originated when third-party contractors were testing the rooftop solar array and confirmed it has pumped ammonia off-site with no measurable community concentrations recordedlatimes +1.

Emergency declaration and regional health fallout

Mayor Bass's emergency declaration activates the city's Emergency Operations Organization, directs departments to assess damages and costs, and formally requests Governor Gavin Newsom expedite state and federal disaster relief under the California Disaster Assistance Actdailynews +1. The South Coast Air Quality Management District extended a Particle Pollution Advisory through at least Sunday, June 21, with PM2.5 levels reaching "Very Unhealthy" categories across central Los Angeles County, the San Gabriel Valley, and the East San Fernando Valleycbsnews +1. The smoke radius stretches roughly 2.5 miles, affecting an estimated 250,000 households in unincorporated East Los Angeles alone, according to LA County Supervisor Hilda Soliscbsnews. Residents are urged to stay indoors, wear N95 masks outdoors, and report unusual odors to the SCAQMD at 1-800-288-7664lafd.