Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a local emergency declaration Saturday afternoon as a warehouse fire that began Wednesday continued to spread smoke throughout the region.
“The smell of smoke has reached most of the city,” the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement about the fire. “We encourage everyone to limit exposure as much as possible” and “follow LA County Public Health and AQMD recommendations for protecting yourself and your loved ones.”
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Officials told residents with lung issues or smoke sensitivity to avoid going outside as a fire at a nearly 500,000-square-foot frozen food warehouse in the Boyles Heights neighborhood “continues to smolder,” according to FOX11 Los Angeles. The emergency poses a biohazard risk as 85 million pounds of frozen food continue to spoil inside the warehouse after firefighters shut off the building’s refrigeration as part of their efforts to fight the blaze.
Crews have mitigated the hazardous chemical threat posed by the fire, but officials have provided no timeline for its full extinguishment. Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jamie Moore said the fire poses “a very unique challenge” for the department. No injuries have been reported.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in an initial statement the city is doing “everything we can to end this as soon as possible, and we want everybody to be safe in the meantime.” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said he has been briefed on the situation, and the Office of Emergency Services and California EPA are “actively working to support local response efforts and protect the public from smoke impacts.”
The incident comes as Los Angeles prepares to host a World Cup match on Sunday and two more next week.
NEWSOM DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AS CHEMICAL TANKS CONTINUE TO OVERHEAT
Boyle Heights is a neighborhood just east of downtown Los Angeles. Though an earlier shelter-in-place order had been lifted, residents throughout Glendale, Burbank, and the San Gabriel Valley reported being affected by the smoke throughout Saturday.
The dayslong response effort comes about a month after a chemical leak at an aerospace facility prompted the governor’s office to provide assistance.
