Boyle Heights warehouse fire officially knocked down after burning more than a week, LAFD says

Boyle Heights residents say ongoing smoke and poor air quality are affecting their health and daily lives as the warehouse fire continues to burn.

Fire crews expect to extinguish the fire this week. But neighbors say they remain concerned about the fire's impact on their health.

Boyle Heights residents say ongoing smoke and poor air quality are affecting their health and daily lives as the warehouse fire continues to burn.

Rosa Vasquez said the conditions have forced her family to stay indoors.

"Your eyes get irritated. Your throat gets itchy. You cough and there's dust everywhere, ash everywhere," Vasquez said.

Vasquez added, "We're staying indoors. We just leave to run errands really quick and just go back."

Since last week, Vasquez said the smoke and poor air quality have disrupted life for her family, including her elderly mother who lives with them.

"We can't do anything. We can't go outside with her. We can't do much because it's hard," she said.

Javon Cameron said the smoke has affected his sinuses.

"It smells like barbecue but it don't really smell like barbecue. You can tell something is burning," Cameron said.

Aubrey Leyva said the situation has been frightening.

"We live right by the fire so it's very scary... We close the doors, we close the windows," Leyva said.

A fire that broke out a week ago at a cold storage facility in Boyle Heights continues to to burn. Even after peeling the siding off multiple sides of the Lineage building over the last two days, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says they still have not reached the core of the fire.

A fire that broke out a week ago at a cold storage facility in Boyle Heights continues to to burn. Even after peeling the siding off multiple sides of the Lineage building over the last two days, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says they still have not reached the core of the fire.

"They're almost there. They believe that they should be able to get to the core in the next few days. They needed specialized equipment in order to do that. The equipment came late -- it actually came yesterday morning -- it came from Texas. It actually needed to be assembled. And so they didn't put these water canons, special water cannons that we actually didn't have in the city of Los Angeles, and so they assembled it. They started using water cannons last night," said Bass.

As residents are forced to wait several more days, they continue to suffer.

"It's crazy with the air smell and then I have kids too. A little scary," said East L.A. resident Karmen Amar.

Amar is 8 months pregnant with her third child and has been dealing with the smoke from this fire for a week.

"It's not good for anybody. My grandparents live close by, two blocks from the fire, so they evacuated two days ago... It just keeps going. It's not good for me to breathe in," Amar said.

She joined other affected residents at an air filter distribution Tuesday afternoon at Our Lady of Victory Church in East L.A.

In addition to providing a thousand air purifiers, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis' Office partnered with Via Care to provide health screenings.

"Respiratory issues, so we are doing some nebulizer treatments. We're also seeing a lot of headaches, irritation of the eyes, the ears, especially the throat," said Via Care Chief of Operations Lourdes Olivares.

As residents continue dealing with the effects of the fire, including displacement, Bass says she plans to be proactive in preventing another incident like this one, or even worse.

"I do want to look at now the warehouses throughout the city to see whether or not there's toxic materials there and another disaster waiting to happen," Bass said.

It's been nearly a week since a massive warehouse fire left many across Los Angeles with questions about the fire's impacts.

As firefighters battle flare-ups at the Lineage cold storage facility in Boyle Heights, ABC7 is getting you answers to your concerns.

[b][url HREF="https://abc7.com/post/submit-question-ask-abc7/12113275/" TARGET="" REL=""]Submit your question to Ask ABC7 here[/url][/b]

Q: How can I check the air quality in my community?
- Roberta C., Shadow Hills, andConnie Y., Ontario

ABC7: Tuesday, 7 on Your Side's Kevin Ozebek showed viewers how to check the air quality in your area.

Click here for the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map website, then maneuver to your neighborhood and click on the sensor for air quality readings in your area.

Q: Would foam used in airplane fires be a better option for extinguishing the Lineage fire? If so, why aren't they using it? - Robert G., Long Beach, andJames B., Fontana

ABC7: According to LAFD, the foam used at the airport is designed for flammable liquid fires. In this case, that is not the situation.

The challenge is not about smothering the fire, but rather getting water approximately 350 feet into the structure.

Firefighters are also facing additional difficulties due to interior racks that are not removable and extend the full height of the building.

At this time, the cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

See more answers to your questions here.

The Boyle Heights warehouse fire has turned the community in East LA upside down as business owners are dealing with a major financial hit.

Wednesday will mark one week since the fire started at the Lineage cold storage facility in Boyle Heights. And now the Los Angeles Fire Department expects it will be extinguished by midweek and that the building will be returned to its owner by Friday.

Lineage believes the fire started while contractors were conducting testing on a rooftop solar array, but the owner of that solar array says the cause remains under investigation.

This warehouse fire has turned the community in East L.A. upside down as people are having to adjust their daily lives and business owners are dealing with a major financial hit.

Outside it seems like an ordinary store front in Boyle Heights, but seven days into the Lineage warehouse fire, about a mile away, the lingering smoke is felt and California Glass Windows owner Cirino Hernandez has been in the thick of it for nearly every day since then.

"This is what we live on, I've been in this place for more than 20 years, so, it's worth continuing to fight," Hernandez said in Spanish, adding that he's grateful for his children.

Hernandez said that because he's 68 years old, his son takes over the store to limit his father's exposure to poor air quality due to the fire.

Eyewitness News also spoke with Juan Carlos, who owns a taco catering business. He told ABC7 that his businesses is suffering with parties canceled. He's also a part-time delivery driver trying to spread the word that Jim's Burgers is delivering food -- inside there's more workers than customers.

"No one comes. No one comes to eat," said Jim's Burgers owner Manuel Orozco, who like his neighbor Hernandez, has been in that area for two decades.

Orozco has a message for elected leaders -- "we're struggling," he says, adding there's employees, merchandise and rent to pay. But there's also a heavy economic blow.

The state, county and city have declared a State of Emergency. The county also approved a motion authorized by Chair Hilda Solis and Supervisor Janice Hahn that, among other measures, orders for the coordination with city and state agencies to evaluate avenues for compensation for affected residents and businesses.

Hernandez and his son put the spotlight on the residents living closest to the fire and the firefighters battling the blaze.

"They're the real heroes in all this, like it's actually insane and I really didn't think that it was going to be as long as it is," said Francisco Hernandez, Cirino's son.

A couple of the symptoms that some people in the area are reporting include throat irritation and headaches.