Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a local state of emergency on Friday evening after a massive fire at a huge refrigerated warehouse in the eastern Boyle Heights neighborhood continued to smolder for days, The New York Times reported.
The measure is aimed at mobilizing additional state and federal resources to deal with the incident, which threatens to become a serious environmental and health crisis.
The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon in a commercial facility with an area of about 46,400 square meters, owned by logistics giant Lineage Logistics. More than 38,500 tons of frozen meat, chicken, pork and fish are stored inside. According to the company's initial reports, the fire started during a test of solar panels on the roof, carried out by subcontractors.
More than 150 firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) are battling the flames in extremely difficult conditions. The building is built like a giant refrigerator — of corrugated steel and thick thermal insulation foam. This structure creates the so-called “thermos effect“, which traps extreme heat inside and causes a slow, hidden smoldering.
“Visibility inside the warehouse is absolutely zero, and the roof is partially collapsed, making it impossible for crews and heavy equipment to enter“, the fire department said. Firefighters are currently pouring up to 2,000 gallons of water per minute from the outside, trying to reach the fires under the debris. Fortunately, there are no reports of deaths or injuries to citizens or employees.
In the first hours of the incident, there was a critical risk of a leak of anhydrous ammonia - a dangerous chemical used in industrial cooling systems. Firefighters were able to successfully drain and secure the thousands of gallons of ammonia, preventing a chemical disaster. Now, however, the city is facing a biological threat. With the power outage, millions of pounds of meat and fish have begun to thaw and rot.
Authorities are urgently coordinating actions with logistics companies to control the removal and destruction of spoiled food before it attracts rodents and generates dangerous bacteria.
Although the stay-at-home order for the neighborhood has been lifted, thick smoke with a plastic smell continues to cover large parts of Los Angeles. LAFD measurements show no unusual toxic compounds in the air, but health officials warn that fine particulate matter is dangerous. Pregnant women, children, the elderly and citizens with asthma or lung diseases are advised to stay indoors and keep windows closed.
The city has opened two 24-hour shelters with filtered air — at the Pecan Recreation Center and City Terrace Park — where masks, food, water and veterinary care for pets are being provided. The operation to fully extinguish the fire and clear the warehouse is expected to take days, and the material damage is yet to be assessed.