Boyle Heights community calls for warehouse demolition as health concerns continue

Crews are wrapping the fire-destroyed Lineage warehouse with a tarp to contain the smell of rotted food as they continue massive cleanup efforts, and neighbors in East LA are fighting back, saying it is still causing problems.

Late in the afternoon on Thursday, a line wrapped around the Lou Costello Rec Center, which has become a resource center for those affected. 

Two weeks after the blaze started, frustrated residents say the cleanup work isn't being done quickly enough, that they want the warehouse shut down, and that they aren't getting any answers.

"You walk into my house and you can smell the chemicals. It's just really bad, the air quality,' Boyle Heights resident Laura Fernandez said.

She showed up looking for an air purifier and was also given a $100 gift card for groceries for herself and her one-year-old daughter.

There are two resource centers within a mile of each other, but some in the community aren't so mobile.

"This is a great help, but I think they could do better for the older people or people with disabilities who aren't able to leave their homes," Fernandez said.

Altamed has a mobile clinic set up and is shuttling those who need to see a doctor.

Adriana Rodriguez lives close to the warehouse and brought her 3-year-old daughter, Luz-Maria, to be checked out.

"She has a fever, itching ears, itching," Rodriguez said. "It's not right, they need to do something for the people." 

Rosa Alcala, with Altamed, is the manager of community outreach, and she says they are here to help, and it's free.

"We are seeing a lot of respiratory illnesses, itchy throat, lightheaded, nauseous, and burning eyes," she said. "We're like in the eye of where it happened and they're barely getting medical help because they didn't have the resources to go nowhere." 

Fernandez says she is worried not only about what's happening now but what this exposure could mean in the future. "How's this gonna affect my daughter when she grows up or my health?" she wonders.

Cleanup is to continue around the clock at the Lineage cold storage warehouse. The health clinics and resource centers are expected to stay open through the weekend and into next week, but it's not known for how long; that has not yet been determined.