Boyle Heights Warehouse Fire Spoils 85 Million Pounds of Food, Forcing Massive Cleanup
Updated
Updated · KABC-TV · Jun 21
Boyle Heights Warehouse Fire Spoils 85 Million Pounds of Food, Forcing Massive Cleanup
3 articles · Updated · KABC-TV · Jun 21
Summary
85 million pounds of meat, poultry and bread are now at risk inside the Boyle Heights cold-storage warehouse after the fire knocked out refrigeration and interior temperatures rose to about 45 degrees.
Unsafe conditions have kept firefighters outside the building, with crews fighting the blaze defensively for several days because worsening heat and spoilage make entry too dangerous.
Officials said the inventory is broader than first believed, revising early assessments that the facility mainly held bread products to include large volumes of other perishables.
Thousands of tons of spoiled food will have to be removed and hauled to area landfills once the fire is contained, setting up a large, coordinated cleanup operation.