LA fire update: How long will Boyle Heights smoke?

Firefighters battled a blaze at a cold storage building in Boyle Heights for a fifth day on Sunday as residents’ concerns about air quality continued to grow.

The chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Jaime Moore, said that firefighters have made significant progress in fighting the fire and if it continues at this rate, it should be over by the end of the week.

The upbeat tone struck by city officials belies the ongoing concerns of neighbors and residents in many parts of LA about the smoke that has been billowing from the building for days. A particulate pollution advisory issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District will remain in effect until 12:30 pm Monday.

Regulatory monitors indicated that air quality levels ranged from “unhealthy for sensitive groups” to “very unhealthy” as of Saturday night in areas of Los Angeles County, the San Gabriel Valley and the northwestern San Bernardino Valley. There have been complaints on social media about poor air quality from residents of those areas.

East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights and the San Gabriel Valley will continue to feel the effects of the smoke on Monday.

Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom jointly declared a state of emergency on Saturday due to unhealthy air quality.

Moore said at a press conference Sunday afternoon that the announcement frees up funds that could bring more services to the region. Moore said he is requesting 12 more fire engines and six additional trucks to support firefighters.

“We will continue to work this fire around the clock,” Moore said. “I hope that by the end of this week we will have completely finished this thing and hand it over to the owner of the building and the person who lives in the building.”

A fire broke out in a 500,000 square meter commercial building,

A Boyle Heights resident is keeping an eye on the fire at a 5,000-square-foot commercial building, which stores 85 million pounds of frozen food.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

he started on wednesday. The corrugated iron walls are filled with dense foam. Moore suggested on Sunday that steel shielded most of the foam from the fire, but the fire continued to emit gases despite ongoing efforts to fight the flames from the ground and helicopters.

Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters drag a water hose near the Lineage cold storage facility to fight a fire that broke out Sunday.

(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)

On Saturday night and Sunday, firefighters removed sections of the wall to improve access and allow firefighters to move to areas that were not easily accessible. The department also brought helicopters capable of carrying large quantities of water to the fire area.

Moore said the facility still sits at 45 degrees, which reduces the risk of becoming a biohazard due to food spoilage. “There are no bio concerns,” he said. “It will deteriorate, but not to the extent we feared.”

Officials said firefighters still face poor visibility inside the facility due to the way it was built.

Bass said at a press conference that the building’s owner, Lineage Logistics, has donated $2 million to help residents and businesses affected by the ongoing fire.

However, Council Member Ysabel Jurado said “Boyle Heights did not create this problem, and Boyle Heights should not be left to clean it up alone.” He added that the city should hold the company responsible for safe cleanup and mitigation of any environmental hazards.

Residents say they can feel the damage caused by the fire which has caused a lot of smoke in the air.

At Yia Caffe, a coffee shop near the warehouse, manager Leo Miguel said the smoke was affecting customers and workers. Miguel said that many customers choose to take their drinks and go out rather than sit outside as the area is full of smoke.

The smoke smells like “chemicals and plastic,” Miguel said, adding that it left his mouth feeling dry and made it “hard to breathe.” Business has slowed since the fire started Wednesday, he said, and conditions don’t appear to be improving.

“I don’t think it’s getting better,” said Miguel. “If anything, it gets worse.”

Bad conditions were visible at Dodger Stadium, where manager Dave Roberts told reporters that the game between the Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles is expected to start on time as long as the air quality does not deteriorate.

Wil Blake, who lives near the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, said he woke up Sunday morning to the smell of “soot and smoke” in the air, which reminded him of last year’s wildfires.

Blake said he keeps his windows open because his air conditioner hasn’t been working for the past few weeks. He needed to close them after seeing the smoke. He also wore a mask outside and went to the nearby Planet Fitness because he “needed to get some filtered air.”

At the city’s Pecan Recreation Center smoke relief center, Ashley Campos, 18, said her family left their home on Hicks Avenue near the fire because of health concerns. Campos said his mother, 44, has asthma, his 9-year-old brother has epilepsy, and his 68-year-old grandmother is suffering from cancer.

Campos said the family lives about two blocks away and could smell smoke in their house. They are looking to buy an air purifier but find that it is too expensive or not available for immediate delivery.

“We didn’t want to risk it,” said Campos about staying at home. Her father stayed at the family home “in case anything happened,” she said.

Campos said the family has struggled to find a cleaner and has heard similar concerns from neighbors. “It’s really hard,” he said. “My father tried to find it, but he couldn’t find it.”

A Boyle Heights resident keeps a close eye on a 500-square-foot, warehouse fire that continues to burn in Boyle Heights on Saturday, June 20, 2026.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Michael Kleinman, a toxicologist and professor at UC Irvine’s Wen School of Population and Public Health, said the danger zone from smoke depends on how fast and in which direction the wind is blowing. He warned that a sore throat, itchy or watery eyes, or a runny nose could indicate a more serious reaction.

The potential biohazard from millions of pounds of spoiled food is “unprecedented,” Kleinman said.

“It’s definitely going to smell and be dangerous, and germs and things are going to grow on it,” she said. “Obviously not interacting with it is a problem, but if things start to burn, add this biological element to the roof, and you’re going into a really unexplored area.”

Dr. Robbie Munroe, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard, suggested that one of the reasons why the fire appears to be far away is because of the light winds that continue to change from morning to afternoon.

“The Boyle Heights area, in the middle of the LA Basin, usually experiences morning winds from the south or southeast, which could affect a large part of the city, depending on how widespread the smoke is,” he said. “It could go up to Glendale or the West Hollywood area.

“As it’s late in the afternoon, you get a sea breeze kicking in, generally southwest to west, which can take you inland or offshore.”

A reporter for The Times noted that a trail of smoke was seen Sunday morning in Simi Valley.