Clara Harter
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — L.A. fire officials said Wednesday evening that crews had gained the upper hand on a massive warehouse fire in Boyle Heights, halting the fire’s spread by 5:30 p.m.
Shelter-in-place orders were issued in the community in the afternoon as firefighters worked to combat the blaze, which involved an ammonia gas leak inside the cold storage facility.
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded shortly after 2:30 p.m. to the conflagration at 1400 S. Los Palos St. that burned through solar panels on the roof of the nearly 500,000 square-foot warehouse and sent a thick black plume of smoke into the air that could be seen for miles.
The flames reached an ammonia line, causing the chemical to begin off-gassing and prompting the LAFD to order all firefighters out of the building. Ammonia is commonly used as a refrigerant in large-scale commercial and industrial settings.
Crews assumed a defensive response and three helicopters were brought in to perform aerial water drops, enabling the department to halt the fire’s spread by 5:30 p.m.
A shelter-in-place order was issued in areas east of the blaze due to the ammonia leak and heavy smoke being generated, according to the LAFD. Residents in the affected area — extending roughly from south of the 101 Freeway to Washington Boulevard, and east of Soto Street to Indiana Street — were warned of “hazardous materials nearby.”
“Get inside IMMEDIATELY and close all windows and doors,” fire officials said in an alert. “Turn off air conditioning/heating. Bring all people and pets to an inside room and close all vents until you receive more instructions.”
LAFD Fire Chief Jaime Moore urged residents to obey the order but said that the ammonia leak was not toxic to individuals unless they had respiratory issues or came into direct contact with the ammonia.
Jane Williams , executive director of California Communities Against Toxics, expressed concerns that officials were underplaying the risk, noting that this is one of the largest cold storage facilities in the state and therefore contains massive amounts of ammonia.
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“If this was Beverly Hills, they would be evacuating people, not telling them to shelter in place,” she said in an interview with The Times. “Anhydrous ammonia is highly toxic and explosive.”
A smoke advisory was also issued for a broad swath of East Los Angeles, with members of the public urged to limit outdoor exercise and those with health issues to go indoors.
Crews responded to the incident 2:35 p.m. when they took an offensive position battling the fire burning solar panels atop the 1,000-by-500-foot commercial building, according to the LAFD. Although crews made strong initial progress dousing the roof with water, the leak was then discovered inside the building, and several small explosions reinvigorated the flames and smoke.
Within the hour, all firefighters were called off the roof and out of the building due to the danger posed by the intense flames and the ammonia leak.
The building is owned by Lineage Logistics and provides cold storage and blast freezing inside 491,000 square feet of warehouse space, according to its website.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As the fire consumed more of the roof, LAFD hose lines were unable to reach all areas of the blaze, and three firefighting helicopters were called in and used to dump thousands of gallons from above. These drops helped reduce the amount of smoke being generated by the blaze.
Although helicopters and other firefighting aircraft are a common tactic used to combat wildfires, they are rarely deployed to structure fires. Moore said that, in his 31 years with the department, this is only the second incident he can remember where aerial water drops were used to fight a building fire.
The warehouse facility at 1400 S. Los Palos St also caught on fire in August 2024 , although that incident was significantly less dramatic. Crews quickly established hose lines on the roof and contained the blaze to a portion of the solar panels atop the structure, achieving knockdown in 48 minutes with no injuries reported, according to LAFD at the time.
L.A. City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, said her office was closely monitoring the fire and is grateful to the emergency crews working to control the blaze.
“We know how frightening it is to see heavy smoke in your neighborhood, especially for families, workers, small businesses, and commuters who are trying to understand what is happening and how to stay safe,” she said in a statement.
“Right now, the most important thing is to follow the shelter-in-place order that has been issued because of the smoke.”
Times staff writer Andrew Campa and City News Service contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .
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