‘Tear the whole building down’: Neighbors urge closing fire-gutted Boyle Heights warehouse

Community members and advocacy groups rallied Thursday in Boyle Heights to demand the permanent closure of the fire-damaged Lineage Logistics cold-storage warehouse, arguing the facility has become an ongoing health and environmental hazard.

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The rally follows a massive at the warehouse that burned for more than a week, leaving millions of pounds of spoiled food inside the facility and prompting an extensive cleanup effort.

Residents called on Lineage Logistics to permanently close the facility, conduct a comprehensive environmental study and ensure a thorough cleanup of the surrounding neighborhood.

“Tear the whole building down. Get rid of it,” one resident demanded during the rally.

Another asked, “What about the aftermath — what chemicals are we breathing?”

Organizations who took part in the event included Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, Centro CSO and Reclaim Our Schools LA.

The rally followed Mayor Karen Bass’ announcement Monday of two executive orders intended to speed cleanup and recovery efforts in Boyle Heights after the June 17 warehouse fire.

“These Emergency Executive Orders will mobilize additional resources that impacted residents, workers, and business owners need, implement aggressive oversight over the remediation process and long-term environmental monitoring, and ensure this community gets the answers it deserves,” Bass said Monday.

The first order directs the establishment of a community resource center, an increase in the deployment of buses for Boyle Heights and East LA, free transit services for the affected area, as well as for the Los Angeles Fire Department, LA Sanitation, and Department of Water and Power to continue monitoring the incident.

LAFD is expected to report within 90 days on the status of ongoing investigations as to the source or cause of the fire, and request that EPA initiate a federal-local dual audit of the facility’s risk management program.

The second order establishes a Boyle Heights Unified Recovery Command for coordinating remediation oversight, monitoring, and enforcing compliance, as well as conducting community meetings to hear from impacted residents. It also directs the city attorney to pursue, where appropriate, all available legal rights to compel abatement and remedies.

The LAFD has implemented an incident action plan that includes deploying crews around the clock to maintain a “firewatch” and respond if significant flare-ups occur. The crews will work on a rotating schedule.

The property owner has contracted with a private fire company that is using a water cannon to keep smoldering areas in the center of the building from flaring up. The company is expected to remain on site throughout the remediation process to respond to any hot spots as needed.

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Firefighters saved roughly half of the nearly 500,000-square-foot warehouse, although the entire facility sustained extensive smoke and water damage. The section most heavily damaged by the fire was largely dismantled during firefighting operations and will likely be demolished, officials said previously.

City officials said the roughly 85 million pounds of rotting food waste is being transported to landfills in Ventura and Riverside counties. Trucks hauling the food waste will avoid residential streets by using existing hauling routes already used by a nearby recycling facility, according to the Mayor’s Office.

City officials said the goal is to minimize the impact on surrounding neighborhoods. Lineage estimates it will need to remove about 5,000 truckloads of food waste from the site.

In a statement last Thursday, Lineage officials said the company has already hired Signal Restoration Services, “an industry-leading cleanup firm,” to spearhead cleaning efforts at the site.

“To move forward as quickly as possible, we urge the government agencies involved to promptly address any permitting or other approvals necessary to begin cleanup.”

Lineage noted that no hazardous materials are stored at the facility, and “robust plans for disinfection, odor control and pest control will be implemented.”

“We are exploring multiple avenues to minimize disruption to the community, including the use of water-tight trailers and containers to transport waste offsite,” according to the company.

City officials noted there are ongoing efforts related to odor mitigation, pest control, air quality testing, stormwater and groundwater testing, and ensuring drinking water remains safe.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation, but Lineage officials have said they believe the fire started while a subcontractor working for Altus Power, which owns the solar array on top of the building, was conducting tests on the panels.

Altus officials issued a statement saying no cause of the fire has yet been determined and that the company was cooperating with investigators.

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