Overview
- The fire at the 500,000-square-foot Lineage cold-storage facility began on June 17 and burned for about a week before fire crews declared it knocked down on June 24.
- Crews have started removing roughly 85 million pounds of thawed, rotting food that Lineage estimates will require about 5,000 truckloads to haul to multiple county landfills.
- Officials and private contractors are using deodorizers, misters and truck deodorization while placing pest traps and deploying fumigation teams to control rodent and insect activity reported by residents.
- Regulators from the city, South Coast AQMD, the county public-health agency and the EPA are monitoring air and water quality and the mayor has ordered an expedited cleanup and a formal fire investigation report within 90 days.
- Neighbors and small businesses report pervasive odors and disruption, city relief centers are distributing air purifiers and masks, and advocates say the outcome could shape future oversight of industrial sites near homes and schools.