BOYLE HEIGHTS — A fire at the Lineage Logistics cold-storage facility in Boyle Heights has been burning for four days since it began on Wednesday. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency to support response efforts for the incident, which involves concerns about toxic smoke and a potential biohazard from 85 million pounds of trapped frozen food.

The facility is a 500,000-square-foot commercial building used to store frozen foods. L.A. Fire Chief Jamie Moore described the building as a "giant cooler" because of its construction with corrugated steel walls, dense foam insulation, and reinforced interior steel panels. Moore said the foam insulation continues to burn slowly once ignited, making the fire difficult to control.

Fire crews have continuously used helicopter water drops and large aerial ladder pipes to direct thousands of gallons of water onto the building each minute. No firefighters or civilians have been injured, according to officials. Fire officials stated that crews are not entering the building or attempting to manually remove product due to zero visibility and unstable interior conditions.

Moore said the goal is to remove uninvolved food before it spoils and becomes a biohazard concern. "What we are trying to do now is to figure out the uninvolved area – how we can remove that food before it starts spoiling and becoming a biohazard concern," he said. He advised individuals sensitive to smoke to remain indoors. "If you are sensitive to smoke, please be cognizant of that and try to stay indoors," Moore said. "But there is nothing in the air that is so dangerous that we have to do evacuations or even shelter-in-place," he added.

Bass expressed concern about biohazard smoke. The building used ammonia as part of its refrigeration system to maintain low temperatures. "We're not concerned in terms of the fire spreading or anything like that. But we are concerned about the biohazard smoke. No smoke is good, but especially the smoke that could be toxic because of the chemicals that were needed to keep the food frozen in the facility," she said. The fire department urged Los Angeles residents to stay indoors and use air conditioning instead of opening windows. Two shelter locations have opened at the Pecan Recreation Center and City Terrace Park.

She said her emergency declaration ensures the city has necessary resources. "While the LAFD continues making progress, this is a major, multi-jurisdictional incident. I'm issuing an emergency declaration to ensure the City has the resources it needs as this operation continues and to keep the community safe," Bass said. Lineage, the tenant and operator of the building, stated that the fire may have originated from work being performed by a third-party contractor handling solar panels on the roof. Lineage said, "At this time, we believe the fire began while testing was being conducted by contractors of the third-party owner of the solar array located on the facility's roof." The company also stated the facility primarily stores frozen food and is not used for hazardous materials.

Lineage stated that no measurable ammonia concentrations have been recorded in the community, according to the LAFD and AQMD. Lineage has also proactively pumped out and transported ammonia offsite. Bass stated that the Governor is prepared to respond to the emergency with resources. "The Governor will be prepared to respond to our State of the Emergency when that is ready with whatever resources we need to do what the Chief described, which is moving the toxic materials away from here and disposing of them in a way that we will avert a major environmental disaster," she said. "This is about prevention. This is about protecting our public's health," Bass said. The air quality in Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Hollywood was considered unhealthy as of Saturday morning. The cause of the fire remains unclear, and fire officials stated that extinguishing it could take days or weeks.