Boyle Heights residents lived through nearly a week of smoke, then weeks of the stench of rotting food, after a fire tore through a Lineage cold-storage warehouse on June 17. About six weeks after the fire, Lineage filed two permit applications to rebuild, which stunned neighbors. Los Angeles officials have been working to block a return, and a search warrant at the site has added another layer.
A Blaze That Lasted Nearly a Week
The fire hit Lineage’s 490,000-square-foot cold-storage facility, and firefighters worked nearly a week to put it out. Heavy smoke plumes were visible across Los Angeles, and mandatory shelter-in-place orders went out in mid-June. The New York Times reported that many nearby residents ended up in emergency rooms while it burned. Officials handed out masks and air filters, but many residents said help was hard to get and fell short.
What the Fire Left Behind
Once the flames were out, roughly 85 to 88 million pounds of frozen food sat rotting, and the smell drifted through the neighborhood until the food was cleared in late August. The fire upended life for months in Boyle Heights and neighboring East Los Angeles. Residents have reported nosebleeds, trouble breathing, nausea, eye irritation, and mental health issues since the fire began, and community groups want more done about possible toxic contamination.
What Lineage Asked For
Lineage filed two applications. The first, submitted to the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, asked to repair and rebuild the fire-damaged parts of the building to their original, pre-fire condition. The filing proposed no change to the footprint, square footage, height, use, or occupancy. The second asked to repair the fire-damaged electrical installation. The first landed the same day Mayor Karen Bass released a video warning Lineage not to return.
How City Leaders Responded
Bass said Lineage “shouldn’t even think about coming back and rebuilding this warehouse.” Once the filings surfaced, she called the move a slap in the face to families in an Instagram post. Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, wrote on X that it was outrageous for Lineage to seek permits while the disaster it created had not even been cleaned up at the time.
The City Council Hits Pause
In mid-September, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to bar the Department of Building and Safety from issuing any rebuild permits until the Los Angeles Fire Department completes its investigation. Jurado, who pushed the measures forward, argued that a facility should not be able to ask for a like-for-like rebuild while that investigation is still active. She added that neighbors are still living with the consequences.
A Possible Limit on Cold Storage
The council directed city staff to present an interim control ordinance. It would prohibit permits or certificates of occupancy for large cold-storage warehousing and distribution near residential neighborhoods and sensitive areas like parks, schools, day care centers, and libraries in Boyle Heights. If approved, it would run 45 days, with an option to extend by 10 months and 15 days. A city staff report says it could be extended by an additional year.
Funding and Penalties on the Table
The council asked city staff to explore a fund of up to $10 million for people affected by the fire. It also called for reallocating up to $940,000 in Los Angeles County Fire Assistance Grant Funds to the Boyle Heights WorkSource Center to support impacted workers and businesses. City officials were told to recommend higher penalties for projects with a significant community impact, with fines from $25,000 to $1 million, per a city staff report.
Lineage’s Side of It
Lineage has blamed rooftop solar panels that were under maintenance when the fire broke out, and it has sued Altus Power, the company that owns them. The New York Times reported that a fire department investigation could not determine the cause but could not rule out the panels. Lineage says it stores no hazardous chemicals at the site and pumped out the ammonia that helped refrigerate the food before the fire reached it.
Where Things Stand Now
On Oct. 6, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office investigators executed a search warrant at the site to assist the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, though it was unclear what they sought. Community groups announced a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency over data on chemicals released in the fire. Boyle Heights native Claudia Mancia, 40, welcomed the investigation as “part of justice being served.” For now, the warehouse’s future remains open.
