Fire department issues urgent warning as choking smoke from Boyle Heights warehouse blaze covers city

Los Angeles fire officials are advising residents to remain indoors due to thick smoke spreading from a warehouse fire that ignited several days ago.

The fire started on Wednesday at the Lineage Logistics cold-storage facility in Boyle Heights. Initially classified as a hazardous materials incident, the flames were eventually contained by firefighters.

The fire reignited on Thursday, prompting authorities to issue shelter-in-place orders. By Saturday morning, smoke had spread across parts of the city, leading to numerous complaints from residents about the fumes.

The LA Fire Department advised residents to keep windows closed and use air conditioning, highlighting the presence of dangerous “products of combustion” in the air.

“These products of combustion are unhealthy for anyone to breathe,” a spokesperson from LAFD stated.

The spokesperson added that residents throughout the city should anticipate the smell of smoke, with complaints coming from areas as far as Century City.

Smoke has enveloped much of downtown Los Angeles, and air quality in areas like Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Hollywood was deemed unhealthy as of Saturday morning.

LAFD Captain Branden Silverman noted on Friday that the aggressive firefighting efforts have worsened the smoky conditions, although he emphasized there were no hazardous materials in the smoke.

“From the beginning, we never found any hazardous materials within that smoke,” he reiterated. “Although no smoke is good smoke. You don’t want to breathe smoke if you can avoid it whatsoever.”

The fire department is concerned the blaze may continue for several days or even weeks, according to the spokesperson.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters