Los Angeles firefighters are now in their sixth day of battling a stubborn blaze at a massive frozen food warehouse located near downtown, with no quick end in sight.
Thick smoke has been pouring from the roughly 500,000-square-foot facility, which is covered in solar panels and built with heavy insulation to keep its contents frozen. The building is located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, east of downtown Los Angeles.
The fire broke out on Wednesday at the facility, known as Big Bear, which is operated by Michigan-based company Lineage. The unique construction of the building has made fighting the fire extremely difficult, and crews have not been able to go inside. Instead, they have been working entirely from the outside.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore noted that the warehouse holds roughly 85 million pounds — about 38.6 million kilograms — of frozen food, including seafood, pork, beef and poultry. According to Lineage, those products are typically shipped to grocery stores and restaurants along the U.S. West Coast.
While a standard large warehouse fire can usually be extinguished within a day, fire officials say a cold storage facility like this one can take weeks to fully put out. Fire Department spokesperson Jamie Stewart explained that the thick insulation in the walls, ceilings and roof traps the fire and makes it extremely hard to control.
Firefighters have also been unable to ventilate the roof — a standard tactic used to release gas and smoke and improve visibility inside a burning structure — because of that same insulation. Adding to the danger, floor-to-ceiling heavy-duty steel shelving racks inside the building make it unsafe for crews to enter.
Instead, crews have been tearing away exterior walls on certain sides of the structure and blasting it with heavy streams of water.
“It is to the point now, with this visibility and the smoke, you can’t really assess the safety as far as committing personnel,” Stewart said.
Stewart said it will likely take at least a few more days before the fire is fully extinguished.
As for the cause, Lineage said in a statement posted to its website that the origin has not yet been officially determined. However, the company believes the fire started while subcontractors were performing work on the solar panels on the roof. Lineage said it is cooperating with fire officials as the investigation continues.
The fire has also created a serious air quality crisis for the surrounding community. Officials with the South Coast Air Quality Management District said the air around Boyle Heights — a working-class neighborhood — remained very unhealthy as of Monday. The agency extended a poor air quality warning through Tuesday afternoon, noting that smoke is also drifting into the San Gabriel Valley.
The smoke contains microscopic particles called PM2.5, which are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs. Light winds are expected to spread the smoke in multiple directions, potentially affecting other parts of the greater Los Angeles area.
Health officials urged residents in the most heavily impacted areas to avoid strenuous outdoor activity and to keep windows, doors and vents closed. They also advised turning off air conditioning and bringing both people and pets indoors. Anyone who must go outside is encouraged to wear an N95 or P100 mask.
