By JOSE HERRERA, City News Service
Los Angeles Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado has announced that she will introduce a package of motions intended to answer questions, provide immediate relief and hold parties accountable for the cold-storage fire in Boyle Heights.
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Jurado said her 14th District constituents have spent the last week carrying a burden they did not create as they have dealt with smoke, odors, ash, disrupted routines and serious health concerns. Through it all, they have been resilient and checking in on one another, she added.
“That resilience deserves to be recognized, but resilience is not the same thing as responsibility,” Jurado said Tuesday.
Jurado said her motions were informed by constituents, who asked similar questions.
“Residents still need resources. Residents still need information, and residents still deserve answers,” Jurado said. “And let me be clear, this is only the beginning.”
She noted that Boyle Heights has carried environmental burdens for generations.
“I mentioned last week when we talked about parks that the Eastside has been the trash can of the city of Los Angeles for too long, and that’s why park advocacy was so important,” Jurado said. “It has also been bearing, just like other Black and brown communities, the environmental burden, and when a major industrial fire happens here, the response cannot be slow, vague, or incomplete. It needs to have the same urgency, transparency and protection as any other community in Los Angeles.”
The Lineage Logistics warehouse at 1400 S. Los Palos St. erupted in fire Wednesday. Fire crews initially believed they had contained the blaze, but pockets of fire have continued to burn inside the structure.
As the fire has continued burning, air quality concerns have persisted for large swaths of Los Angeles, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and South Coast Air Quality Management District have not detected anything beyond normal combustible material typical after a fire, authorities said.
A special Particle Pollution Advisory issued by the AQMD was extended until at least 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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Mayor Karen Bass, County Supervisor Hilda Solis and Gov. Gavin Newsom all declared a state of local emergency in response to the fire, an effort to mobilize resources at different levels of government to address the fire and prepare post-recovery efforts.
The councilwoman also addressed Lineage’s public statement that the company believes the fire started on the roof while subcontractors were servicing the solar array.
“That may be their statement, but it cannot be the final word,” Jurado said in a statement Monday. “Residents deserve an independent investigation into who was working there, what work was being done, who was responsible for that equipment, and whether any safety or oversight failures contributed to this disaster.”
“A company statement is not an investigation, and Boyle Heights deserves more than finger-pointing,” Jurado added.
Lineage Logistics officials issued a statement Monday evening saying they remain “committed to doing everything we can to help firefighters and the community, we want to be clear that this fire was not caused by our operations or our team. Lineage is the tenant-operator of the building, not the owner.
“We believe the fire started on the roof when the owner of the solar array, Altus Power, was doing tests. The solar array does not power the building directly but provides power into the city power grid. As we step up for the community, we are also urging Altus to join us getting the Boyle Heights community the support they desperately need.”
Altus issued a statement insisting that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
“Our first concern is for the residents of Boyle Heights, everyone affected by this fire, and for the firefighters working to contain it,” the company said Tuesday. “The cause of the fire where our rooftop solar array is located at the Los Palos Street facility has yet to be determined. We are cooperating fully with the authorities as they investigate.”
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