Boyle Heights community clinic says hundreds of residents treated for "toxic exposure" after Lineage fire

St. John's Community Health, which deployed mobile clinics to the Boyle Heights community following the Lineage warehouse fire, says that it treated hundreds of residents for "toxic exposure and smoke inhalation."

In a recent health report, St. John's said that its mobile clinic deployments identified 469 of 1,306 unduplicated patients who met fire-related exposure criteria in the weeks following the fire.

"Close to 40% of people we provided health care to had serious, acute, and devastating health problems," said Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John's. "We know that acute health conditions, particularly those caused by intensive environmental exposure, lead to long-term chronic and deleterious health impacts that disable and damage the health of our communities."

Health officials said that since the fire, St. John's has treated more than 5,000 patients in the area. Some of the most common diagnoses among Boyle Heights patients included the toxic effects of smoke, contact/exposure to hazardous substances, acute upper respiratory infection, headaches and other eye and adnexa disorders.

The fire, which broke out on June 17 at a Lineage cold-storage warehouse, housed nearly 85 million pounds of meat and other produce. After firefighters finally extinguished the blaze, the rotten food left behind putrid odors and swarms of flies in the community.

Mangia said that of the patients treated, 90% were Latino, 65% were women and over 60% were seniors.

The health report also said that several clinical interventions were provided during the fire response. Some of those included asthma exacerbation requiring urgent breathing treatment as well as rescue and controller therapy.

St. John's partnered with several community-based nonprofit organizations as well as multiple city, county and state elected officials to reach the most impacted Boyle Heights residents.

"We distributed thousands of air purifiers and tens of thousands of N95 masks to help residents cope with the onslaught of hazardous smoke and poisonous emissions," officials said.

As cleanup efforts of the rotten food and debris continue, Mangia continues to emphasize the lasting and long-term effects that could arise.

"You're going to see a significant increase in asthma rates in Boyle Heights, you're going to see an increase in cardiac issues and you're going to see an increase in mental health issues," Mangia said.