County ratifies local emergency after multi‑day Lineage Logistics cold‑storage fire in Boyle Heights

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously ratified a local emergency on June 23 in response to a large, multi‑day fire at the Lineage Logistics cold‑storage warehouse in Boyle Heights that sent smoke and odors across East L.A. and neighboring jurisdictions and prompted shelter‑in‑place advisories.

Chair Hilda Solis moved the action and told the board the declaration would "strengthen our ability to deploy those resources to help accelerate that recovery and to coordinate with the state and federal partners." The motion directs additional investigation into the facility, review of safety compliance, and establishment of a claims process for impacted residents, workers and businesses.

County and city responders described the blaze as unusually difficult to fight because the facility is a large cold‑storage warehouse kept at roughly −10°, filled with high‑piled frozen food, and has a dense solar array on the roof that limited firefighter access. "This is a cold storage warehouse designed to store food at -10°," said John O’Brien, chief deputy, Los Angeles County Fire Department, explaining why the structure smoldered and required specialized aerial tactics and high‑reach water streams.

Kevin McGowan, director of the county Office of Emergency Management, said incident commanders from L.A. City initially set protective actions and that county agencies coordinated to issue advisories and wireless emergency alerts for impacted jurisdictions. He described coordinated multi‑jurisdictional decision‑making on evacuation versus shelter‑in‑place orders.

Public‑health officials and the county’s hazardous‑materials division said they have operated nearly continuous air monitoring around the plume, deploying hand‑held instruments, mobile stations, drone sensors and the EPA and AQMD monitoring networks. "Readings have been below any action levels," officials reported, though they cautioned smoke remains an irritant and urged masks and precautions for seniors and people with chronic conditions. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of public health, said the county’s monitoring to date had not detected acute exposures that exceed established action levels but urged continued vigilance.

Solis described rapid county relief efforts for directly impacted neighborhoods: door‑to‑door canvassing, resource fairs and distribution of air filters, masks and food. She said staff had distributed about 1,100 air filters and "well over 10,000 N95 masks" and that mobile health clinics were deployed to shelters. County departments, the Red Cross and community‑based partners supported the response.

Supervisors and agency leaders acknowledged gaps and concerns from residents about communications and timeliness of warnings. Solis repeatedly pressed OEM and fire chiefs for clarity on who decides evacuation orders and how to ensure multilingual outreach and on‑site health checks for vulnerable residents, including seniors and mixed‑status households.

County Counsel said the office has engaged with L.A. City attorneys and the EPA and is preparing to gather records and, where appropriate, seek recovery from responsible parties for county costs. Officials also warned that removing the facility’s estimated remaining inventory and debris—reported as tens of millions of pounds of food—will be a complex task.

After public comment from residents who described breathing irritation and disruption, the board adopted the emergency ratification unanimously. Supervisors and department directors said the declaration will help coordinate resources, expedite procurement and set up a claims and investigation process while monitoring and outreach continue.

The board did not announce a timetable for the county’s investigative findings; county counsel said cause and liability determinations require the fire to be controlled and more evidence to be collected. The board said it would continue updating the public and coordinating with city, state and federal partners as response and recovery proceed.