Smoke From LA Warehouse Fire Affecting Residents, Businesses

Smoke continues to billow from a fire at a massive warehouse in Los Angeles, drawing complaints about air quality from residents and interrupting nearby businesses.

A fire at a 491,000-square-foot cold storage warehouse located near homes in Boyle Heights continues to burn into day eight. Firefighters have been knocking down walls piece by piece in an effort to extinguish remaining hot spots.

Residents in the area have complained of respiratory symptoms, and local businesses have are feeling an economic impact from the ever-present haze, according to numerous media reports.

County officials said they have distributed more than 10,000 masks and 2,300 air purifiers to residents in the impacted area, CNN is reporting. The news service reported on residents feeling ill or leaving the area to stay with relatives in other cities in Southern California.

At Sakura Hana Hibachi, the fire has affected business at the restaurant which was largely empty. A manager there told CNN that “less people are coming in because of the street closures.”

Firefighters have been unable to enter the building due to the danger heavy-duty steel racks that stretch from the floor to the ceiling, and they have been unable to ventilate the roof due to insulation, which is what they typically do to release gas and smoke and gain visibility inside a warehouse, the Associated Press reported.

Firefighters responded around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday to the fire, which sent large plumes of dark smoke into the air in Boyle Heights and surrounding areas. As it continued to burn, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday for Los Angeles County in response to the fire, directing agencies to support local response efforts and help protect public health and safety.

The fire has blanketed southeast L.A. County and nearby San Gabriel Valley in toxic smoke, raising questions about public health due to exposure from small particles that the billowing smoke can move through the air. Some community advocates accuse city officials of downplaying the risks, the L.A. Times is reporting.

Anthony Tubbs, a public information officer with the Los Angeles Fire Department, called the fire a “very complex incident, unlike any other.” He said the warehouse contains 50- to 60-foot high racks carrying an estimated 85 million pounds of food, and he told SFGate that firefighters removed some walls of the building to better access the fire. They have also used drones and heavy-duty water hoses to reach the flames without sending in firefighters.

The company that operates the site said the fire started while contractors were testing solar panels on the roof, providing a possible explanation for how the blaze began, according to a report on the ABCNews website.

Topics
Louisiana