LAFD continues multi-day firefight at Boyle Heights warehouse
Thick black smoke and flames on Friday returned to the Boyle Heights warehouse that has been at the center of a nearly three-day firefight.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it anticipated a possible flare-up because of a change in wind conditions and that crews will continue to douse the building with large amounts of water. They stressed that there is no additional hazard after crews removed and isolated hazardous materials.
"It's just normal combustion, normal materials burning," LAFD spokesperson Nicholas Prange said. "If there is smoke in the area, stay inside, but otherwise there is no additional hazard to be aware of at the moment."
Prange said that most of the items burning were pallets and cardboard boxes.
The stubborn fire at the 500,000-square-foot food-product storage facility started on Wednesday. Initially, crews attempted to battle the fire from the roof of the building at 1400 S. Los Palos Street, but quickly transitioned into defensive mode and moved off the roof after flames spread through rows of nearby solar panels.
Firefighters believe that leaking ammonia could have helped fuel the fire.
"This is a building that's being used commercially for refrigeration of product. So, ammonia is one of the majority of the products being used with refrigeration," said LAFD Chief Jaime Moore on Wednesday. "We believe an ammonia line was then compromised, because we had a large, powerful stream of ammonia then coming out."
With the help of several water-dropping helicopters typically used in wildfires, LAFD said crews were able to halt forward progress by Wednesday night. The water-dropping helicopters returned during Friday's flare-up.
White smoke continued to billow from the roof as crews ventilated the hazardous smoke from the warehouse throughout Thursday. When firefighters entered the warehouse for mop-up work later in the day, they found a pocket of fire in a freezer container.
The ongoing firefight raised concerns about air quality, with regulators issuing a particle pollution advisory for the area that will remain in effect until 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
LAFD said that hazardous material specialists were at the scene. They haven't detected anything hazardous in the air, according to firefighters.
Prange said crews moved the ammonia out of the building. Firefighters have also isolated lithium-ion batteries and have hoselines dousing them.
To view current air quality, download the South Coast AQMD app or visit www.aqmd.gov/AQImap.
