Emergency declaration issued for commercial fire in L.A.’s Boyle Heights neighborhood
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Saturday issued an emergency declaration in connection with an ongoing commercial fire burning in the Boyle Heights neighborhood.
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“We’re going to declare a joint state of emergency,” the mayor said in an interview with NBC Los Angeles. “We’re in contact with the governor because this has escalated to a problem where we are very concerned about the health of the community.”
The stubborn blaze began burning Wednesday and caused a shelter-in-place to be issued for neighboring residents. It was lifted that same evening as the firefight looked optimistic, but flare-ups occurred on Thursday and crews have continued to fight the fire since as smoke from the blaze impacted the region’s air quality.
With an emergency declaration in place, the city will be granted state resources that will help relieve the local resources that have been used against the commercial fire. Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore said L.A. firefighters have been tasked with not only responding to the blaze in Boyle Heights, but also other community emergencies in their respective domains.
“We clearly need resources from the state to allow us to take the steps that are needed to make sure that this area is safe,” Bass said.
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Bass and Moore have expressed concern that because the fire is at a frozen food storage facility, the food is decaying and creates the possibility of a biohazard. According to Moore, Lineage, the facility where the fire is burning, houses frozen bread and meat products, and if those products decay any further, it may create biohazardous conditions.
“I wouldn’t say it’s potentially dangerous; it would be unpleasant,” Moore said. “It would be a horrible odor, but what we’re looking at is what those gases would produce or create. We’ve already mitigated the hazardous materials portion by removing the ammonia and other chemicals that were used as refrigerants … now, it’s really what’s going to happen when this food starts decomposing?”
Bass likened the situation in Boyle Heights, which is east of downtown Los Angeles, to when food rots during a power outage.
“The gas that that emits, that’s the biohazard that we’re worried about,” she said.
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Two shelter locations have been opened for those affected by the blaze:
- Pecan Rec Center — 145 S. Pecan St., Los Angeles 90033
- City Terrace Park — 1126 N. Hazard Ave, Los Angeles 90063
