Toxic smoke, rotting food: Inside LA’s ongoing fire crisis

A warehouse fire in the Eastside of Los Angeles continues to burn days after ignition, with smoke spreading across the city and raising health and safety concerns for Californians.

On Saturday, Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass officially proclaimed states of emergency, pledging further support for local efforts to combat the blaze at the cold-storage facility in Boyle Heights.

The fire at 1400 S. Los Palos St. broke out Wednesday afternoon, rapidly growing into a large blaze and later reaching an ammonia line, triggering several smaller explosions. Small fires are still burning as smoke billows from the site, and officials are warning of wider threats—including a potential biohazard risk from spoiling food—at the facility.

“Boyle Heights is not just responding to a fire,” Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, said on Saturday. “Residents have lived through days of smoke, shelter-in-place orders, disruptions to daily life, and ongoing questions about what this means for their health and well-being.”

Newsweek has contacted the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health outside of regular working hours for comment.

What Caused the Fire?

The exact cause of the fire remains unknown, and officials have said a full investigation will be conducted once the issue is resolved.

In a statement quoted by CBS News, Lineage Logistics, the tenant-operator of the site, said it believes the fire began “while testing was being conducted by contractors of the third-party owner of the solar array located on the facility’s roof.”

According to ABC7 Los Angeles, the same solar-paneled roof caught fire in August 2024. In a far shorter operation, firefighters were able to contain that blaze in under an hour, and no injuries were reported as a result.

Why Is The Fire Still Raging?

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) has described the fire as “really complicated,” and employed several unique methods when trying to contain it. LAFD helicopters have been dumping water on the building this week, supporting crews who have been working to cool hot spots buried within the structure.

“Our city firefighting brothers and sisters are executing a meticulous, deeply challenging operation to bring the fire under control,” said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Jon O’Brien, as quoted by CBS News. “Because of this, incident operations will continue into the foreseeable future.”

Officials said the fire was largely confined to the roof area by Thursday afternoon, but crews later witnessed additional flames inside the building. On Saturday, O’Brien said that pockets of fire continued to burn beneath debris and solar panels.

What Are the Risks?

A ruptured ammonia line delayed firefighters’ response and caused a number of small explosions, according to LAFD Chief Jamie Moore, raising concerns that ammonia tanks within the building could cause further issues. However, a firefighter told KTLA 5 on Friday that crews had been able to “completely” remove the “hazardous materials” from the site.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday that the building’s walls are fitted with foam that was emitting gases due to the fire, potentially posing a risk to individuals in the area. Officials have urged residents to wear N95 and P100 masks to mitigate the effects, and the city is distributing these as well as air purifiers and other emergency supplies. A “particle pollution advisory” was in effect until midday on Saturday.

The ‘Hazard’ of Rotting Food

The 500,000-square-foot facility also houses around 45,000 tons of food, which Moore described as “our next challenge,” during a press conference on Saturday.

“All that food is slowly beginning to rot. It’s no longer frozen. It’s warming up and it’s going to start to spoil,” Moore said, adding that the meats stored at the building are “going to create a hazard in itself.”

Officials have also warned of the risk posed by lithium-ion batteries at the site, the Los Angeles Times reported, which are used to store the energy produced by solar panels, The building contains around 60 forklifts that run on these batteries, though these have been removed according to LAFD Battalion Chief Nicholas Ferrari.

Shelter In place orders that were in effect this week have now been lifted, but officials say efforts to contain the blaze are ongoing.

In remarks quoted by CBS News, Ferrari said that similar fires in the past have taken 60 days to extinguish.

“We are a very aggressive fire department, and we are working through the clock tonight; we will not stop applying water,” he said. “We will not stop fighting the fire until this is extinguished.”