Newsom Declares Emergency Over Boyle Heights Fire as PM2.5 Hits Unhealthy Levels
Updated
Updated · LAist · Jun 21
Newsom Declares Emergency Over Boyle Heights Fire as PM2.5 Hits Unhealthy Levels
3 articles · Updated · LAist · Jun 21
Summary
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday, hours after Los Angeles issued a local emergency, unlocking added state resources for the Boyle Heights warehouse fire.
PM2.5 pollution reached unhealthy and very unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups levels across parts of central Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley, East San Fernando Valley and Northwest San Bernardino Valley, with an advisory in effect until 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
LAFD said crews have contained the blaze to about half the cold-storage building, but dense foam-lined steel walls, zero visibility and refrigeration chemicals have made the fire unusually hard to attack.
Firefighters are now trying to safely remove 85 million pounds of frozen food before it spoils; helicopter water drops continued through the weekend and crews pulled out forklifts with lithium-ion batteries to reduce hazards.
Authorities said the fire began Wednesday at a Lineage Logistics facility, likely involving rooftop solar testing by contractors; ammonia has since been removed, no shelter-in-place is currently needed, and smoke could shift toward southeast L.A. County on Sunday.