Firefighters have made significant progress in the warehouse fire that has been burning for days in Boyle Heights.
At a Sunday news conference, LAFD Fire Chief Jaime Moore said fire crews were able to remove the walls to parts of the burning warehouse, paving the way for a full knock down.
He said he expects the acrid air that has spread across the region to soon subside.
“l would anticipate this smoke for about two more days, possibly three,” Moore said Sunday.
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Parks, pools and outdoor programs near the fire zone have been closed by L.A. County over air quality concerns.
Air Quality
A Particle Pollution Advisory is in effect until 12:30 p.m. Monday.
Regulatory monitors and sensors show that PM2.5 levels reached unhealthy and very unhealthy levels for sensitive groups in the areas of central Los Angeles Country, San Gabriel Valley, East San Fernando Valley and Northwest San Bernardino Valley, according to AQMD.
See current air quality in your neighborhood.
The fire was first ignited Wednesday from what authorities said was a solar system atop the cold storage facility leased and operated by Lineage.
Flare-ups over the weekend sent smoke all across northeast L.A. — with smoke visible from afar into the weekend.
Moore said firefighters have held the blaze to half of the 500,000-square-foot building, but chemicals used for refrigeration and the building's layout have made fighting this fire a unique challenge.
The smoke from a fire that appeared to have reignited in Boyle Heights.
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Jessica Perez
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The LA Local
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Two fire relief centers have been set up in East L.A.:
N95 masks and air filtration support are available on a first-come, first-served basis:
"We have corrugated steel on the outside walls filled with very, very dense foam, and the interior walls are also protected by corrugated steel walls as well," he said. "It's very difficult for us to get in there because there's zero visibility inside."
Moore said 85 million pounds of frozen food, including meat that would soon spoil, are inside the facility.
"Our next objective is to try to figure out how we're gonna get this product out of there and do it safely under the conditions we have," Moore said.
Lineage said it is working closely with LAFD and the city to provide assistance.
"At this time, we believe 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," Melanie Mendoza, a company spokesperson, said in a statement.
A thick cloud of smoke descends over a street near a cold storage warehouse after a reported flare-up.
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Jessica Perez
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Boyle Heights Beat
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The fire prompted an hourslong shelter-in-place order on Wednesday due to hazardous materials, including ammonia.
Since then, fire authorities said, the building operator was able to pull ammonia out of the facility’s tanks and transport the chemical off-site. The operator also filled a generator, allowing the building’s interior sprinkler system to keep running.
Fire authorities stressed the aggressive tactics that firefighters were using. Helicopter water drops — almost unheard of for a structure fire — continued throughout the weekend. Firefighters were also able to retrieve a number of forklifts with lithium-ion batteries from inside the building, reducing the hazard the batteries posed.
Early monitoring showed particles were generally present at background levels, AQMD said, but for several seconds at a time, they found increased levels of bromine and chlorine.
“Bromine and chlorine are typically found at trace levels during structural fires and the levels seen were below short-term health-based exposure thresholds,” AQMD said. “Concentrations below this level are not expected to cause adverse health effects. No significant levels of air toxic metals were seen.”
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