Animals cleaning up the Boyle Heights cold storage after the multi-day fire
Dump trucks, dozens of sandbags, and large metal carts lined up near a cold storage facility that burned for days in Boyle Heights indicated that the cleanup of millions of pounds of spoiled food and burned debris had begun Friday morning.
The smell that has been lingering in the area since June 17 – the smoke of the fire and rotting flesh – is much lighter than the previous days. But the sound of idle diesel truck engines had replaced the many fire trucks that had been stationed there for days.
The task of mitigating the potential environmental fallout and dealing with the looming problem of how to deal with the stench of millions of pounds of spoiled food is now in the hands of the building’s private tenant.
On Friday morning, Los Angeles firefighters battling the blaze, which sent smoke across the country for miles in every direction, were preparing to hand over cleanup work to Lineage, the tenant of the burned building.
“The business owner, the tenants, the contractor’s restoration company, they’re handling the cleanup right now,” said Branden Silverman, captain of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Lineage, in a statement, said it has already hired contractors to begin work.
“Lineage is committed to cleaning up as quickly as possible without sacrificing health, safety and compliance,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Last week, a 500,000-square-foot warehouse, in an industrial park between the 5 freeway and the Union Pacific railroad tracks, caught fire while work was reportedly underway to install solar panels on the building’s roof. The fire has spread through the building, endangering the roof, preventing firefighters from entering and quickly knocking down the flames.
Instead, workers were left to isolate parts of the building, starting from the outside, until they could pump water into the burning area and stop the flames. The LAFD declared the fire “outrageous” Wednesday night.
On Friday, there was no water flow in the middle of the warehouse.
Instead, large metal boxes were placed around the center. Mobile towers were parked outside next to waste management trucks, and piles of sandbags were piled up.
Metal grates and sandbags were used to prevent debris from floating into storm drains.
Fire officials said this is part of an ongoing effort to mitigate some of the impacts the evacuation may have on the neighboring community and the environment. A program to increase the smell of rotting food is also being prepared, officials said.
“There are other methods that can be used – possibly as a deodorizer, they can be used on top of the waste to keep the odor down,” Silverman said. “They are looking at every possible place to minimize the impact on the community.”
Lineage, which previously operated a cold storage facility, has hired Signal Restoration Services — a national cleaning and restoration company — to lead efforts at the Boyle Heights facility, the company said in a statement.
“We have already installed cleanup equipment on site,” read the statement, which also urged the city to expedite any necessary cleanup permits.
LAFD officials said firefighters are expected to remain at the scene in case hot spots are found during the cleanup.
“Once we’re comfortable with that, then we’ll leave the scene, and it will be the business owner’s responsibility to take care during the demolition,” Silverman said.
