This browser does not support the Video element.
Boyle Heights warehouse fire: One month later
Neighbors have been dealing with what they have described as a highly objectionable stench, even as rats and flies treat the gutted warehouse like a smorgasbord.
LOS ANGELES - Air quality regulators are demanding more changes at the fire-gutted Lineage cold storage warehouse in Boyle Heights and threatening to take the company to court if it doesn't comply after receiving more than 900 odor complaints since Sunday and hitting the facility with six violations.
A June 17 fire tore through the warehouse, leaving more than 80 million pounds of food to rot inside. A month later, neighbors say the stench has taken over the surrounding blocks.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District's demands include treating the waste before it is loaded, covering trucks, washing streets and warning neighbors before any work that could make the odor worse.
The company has until Tuesday to answer regulators.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- Boyle Heights residents battle fly infestation, foul odors as Lineage warehouse cleanup continues
- Boyle Heights residents boo Mayor Karen Bass, Lineage executives at heated town hall over warehouse fire
- Boyle Heights residents demand Lineage shutdown amid rats, rotting food stench in fire aftermath
- Rotting pig feet, crab meat, beef at burned Boyle Heights warehouse fueling odor, health concerns
Lineage says it is making progress, with more than 2.5 million pounds of rotten food now gone.
For Jessica Martinez, who has asthma, the past month has meant rationing her inhaler.
"I do my best to kind of calm down my asthma attacks, but I wake up wheezing. I go to bed wheezing," Martinez said.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Boyle Heights residents demand evacuations
Residents dealing with the air quality issues are demanding that Boyle Heights needs to be declared a disaster zone. This comes a couple of weeks after the nearby Lineage warehouse burned down and the area was left with rotting food, fly infestation and foul odor.
"There are people who really need help here. And I have those resources, thankfully I do, but I have neighbors that have kids, have disabilities that they're seeing no help from," she said.
Her mother, Yesenia Adame has lived on the block for 10 years. She just spent $250 on an exterminator to keep the flies off her porch.
Asked whether she feels like a prisoner in her own home, Adame didn't hesitate: "Of course, definitely 110%."
"I do not need to be living outside of my home or having to discomfort myself or my family because of their negligence," Adame said.
Another longtime resident said the cleanup never stops and still isn't moving fast enough.
"I actually take out the dogs sometimes around 2 o'clock in the morning. And I hear the machines, like tractors going boom, boom. But it's just not fast enough," he said.
"It's hell. I've been in prison, you know, I think prison's better than this," he said. "It smells a whole lot better in prison."
Anyone who can smell the odor from where they live can report it to the South Coast AQMD at 1-800-CUT-SMOG (1-800-288-7664). Families who need assistance can dial 211.'
This browser does not support the Video element.
Boyle Heights residents endure health issues, lingering odors
The Boyle Heights community is still reeling from the massive Lineage warehouse fire three weeks after it broke out.
The Source: This report is based on regulatory enforcement actions issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and official progress statements from Lineage Logistics regarding the warehouse cleanup. On-the-ground impacts and health grievances were gathered through direct interviews with Boyle Heights residents experiencing the conditions firsthand.