{"id":1171,"date":"2026-06-23T10:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1171"},"modified":"2026-06-23T10:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:30:13","slug":"health-concerns-mount-as-boyle-heights-warehouse-fire-stretches-into-a-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1171","title":{"rendered":"Health concerns mount as Boyle Heights warehouse fire stretches into a week"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Tens of thousands of people in southeast Los Angeles County have been engulfed in a dense cloud of smoke for nearly a week as a fire continues to tear through a massive refrigerated warehouse in Boyle Heights. Toxic air has covered the San Gabriel Valley and beyond at times, as the fire continues to burn and the wind shifts the pall in different directions. <\/p>\n

Read more Here\u2019s why the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool went green so fast<\/a><\/p>\n

People have reason to be concerned about their loved ones breathing in the plume, experts say. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no safe level of exposure to particle pollution,\u201d said Will Barrett, assistant vice president for nationwide clean air policy at the American Lung Assn. <\/p>\n

Soot can be deadly. The charred microscopic particles can travel deep into a person\u2019s lungs and bloodstream, causing swelling and triggering heart attacks and strokes. <\/p>\n

People aren\u2019t just being exposed for hours. They\u2019ve been exposed for days in Boyle Heights, unincorporated East Los Angeles, Maywood, Montebello and Bell, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some pollutants where just breathing in a little bit of it can cause some serious issues for people,\u201d said Dr. Afif El-Hasan, a pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente. He said he\u2019s most concerned about particles, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and chemical gases from incinerated insulation, plastics and paint in the smoke. <\/p>\n

\u201cThose chemicals can cause irritation in the lungs, they can cause long-term lung damage, and sometimes they can even cause cancer,\u201d he said. \u201cI also worry about children, because children breathe in more air per volume of their body than adults do and they tend to be more active.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople also need to remember that even if you are healthy, these chemicals are going to put you at risk. It\u2019s not just people who are vulnerable, anyone is in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that the smoke continues to billow into the sky for a sixth day matters, said Jill Johnston, associate professor of environmental and occupational health at UC Irvine. \u201cThe longer the exposure time, the more dose you\u2019re getting, or the more potential chemicals that you\u2019re inhaling. So you\u2019re gonna be increasing a potential risk,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Pregnant women and their babies in utero are known to be vulnerable to smoke from wildfires, she said. But less is known about city fires. \u201cWe see increased risk of low birth weight and preterm birth connected to exposure to wildfire smoke. This isn\u2019t exactly the same composition of smoke, but would anticipate … there could be potentially similar risk.\u201d <\/p>\n

A fire like this can leave people with no good choices. They can stay home with an air filter if they have one. But homes need \u201cfresh\u201d air, and a fire can make getting that impossible. <\/p>\n

Read more L.A. state of emergency: What we know about Boyle Heights fire<\/a><\/p>\n

For that reason, some people believe that the official response to the gravity of the fire at Lineage Logistics has been inadequate. Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics, is among several activists who criticized the Los Angeles Fire Department and city officials who appeared to downplay health risks from prolonged smoke, and ultimately decided against evacuating these areas. They think many more people should have been evacuated. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey always under-warn, they under-evacuate, they bring people back too fast,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI get that there\u2019s a societal desire to return to normalcy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local officials have opened a pair of shelters to house residents who want to temporarily relocate. The Los Angeles Unified School District also canceled summer programming for schools in the smoke-affected communities. <\/p>\n

But \u201cthere is nothing in the air that is so dangerous that we have to do evacuations or even shelter in place,\u201d LAFD Chief Jaime Moore said. Asked at a recent news conference whether the air was dangerous, Mayor Karen Bass said, \u201cnot to the extent that required a mandatory evacuation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet Williams pointed to the burning chemical-laden insulation foam inside the building, which could release several other highly toxic gases, including hydrogen cyanide, an asphyxiating gas, and isocyanates, chemical vapors that can cause serious lung damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about what you value and who you value,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIf you value truth, you cannot sit there in front of a burning building and say the air is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Fire Department spokesperson declined to comment when asked why the department considered a shelter-in-place order more appropriate than issuing an evacuation. It\u2019s not clear that evacuation would have been purely a city responsibility. Lineage Logistics sits along the city boundary, with unincorporated Los Angeles County and other cities nearby.<\/p>\n

mark! Lopez, a community organizer with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, also said the recently lifted shelter-in-place orders were not enough to protect residents from the heavy smoke and potential chemical releases. Residents, he said, have complained about smoke seeping into homes through cracks in doorways and windows, giving them sore throats and breathing problems. <\/p>\n

Lopez said many of the smoke-affected communities have long suffered from poor air quality from decades of heavy polluting industrial facilities, highway traffic and rail yards. He said the public statements from Fire Department and elected officials that cast doubt on the risks from smoke were unacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what happens when the Fire Department says there\u2019s not a threat to human health. … The LAFD, they aren\u2019t public health experts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more California labor union offers to scale back billionaire tax proposal after pushback<\/a><\/p>\n

Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toxic air has covered the San Gabriel Valley and beyond at times, as the fire continues to burn and the wind shifts the pall in different directions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate"],"yoast_head":"\nHealth concerns mount as Boyle Heights warehouse fire stretches into a week - California Relocation Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1171\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health concerns mount as Boyle Heights warehouse fire stretches into a week - California Relocation Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Toxic air has covered the San Gabriel Valley and beyond at times, as the fire continues to burn and the wind shifts the pall in different directions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=1171\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"California Relocation Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T10:30:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b85b48ca4c2015dd056e0e9c18912121\"},\"headline\":\"Health concerns mount as Boyle Heights warehouse fire stretches into a week\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T10:30:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171\"},\"wordCount\":945,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/49ee9b5c37c8c0d144eb23578183d5dd-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Climate\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171\",\"name\":\"Health concerns mount as Boyle Heights warehouse fire stretches into a week - California Relocation Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/49ee9b5c37c8c0d144eb23578183d5dd-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T10:30:13+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=1171#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/49ee9b5c37c8c0d144eb23578183d5dd-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/49ee9b5c37c8c0d144eb23578183d5dd-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 22, 2026: People walk while covering their faces from the smoke caused by the nearby Lineage Logistics cold storage warehouse fire on Monday, June 22, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA. 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