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

Eyewitness News has learned Cal/OSHA is opening an investigation into the Boyle Heights warehouse fire.

While authorities say flames are no longer active, crews continue working at the site as attention shifts to cleanup and environmental mitigation efforts around the warehouse.

"There is no active heat in anywhere in the perimeter of the fire, there are no active flames and there is no significant amount of smoke," Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Jacob Raabe said.

The fire burning for more than a week at a Boyle Heights warehouse has been officially declared a knockdown, the LAFD said.

Some residents expressed concern that the end of the active fire does not mark the end of its potential effects.

"I don't think it's over at all... Even if it's light smoke, it's still smoke," said Phoebe Horta, who lives near the warehouse.

"Hopefully, it doesn't catch up to us in the long run," Horta added.

Environmental teams are on the ground trying to filter and test hundreds of thousands of gallons of fire-water runoff, collecting debris at the source before it reaches storm drains.

As smoke from the warehouse fire lingers, some Boyle Heights residents say they have struggled to obtain free air purifiers distributed by the city.

As smoke from the Lineage Logistics warehouse fire lingers in East Los Angeles, some Boyle Heights residents say they have struggled to obtain free air purifiers distributed by the city.

While the Los Angeles Fire Department said the fire was fully knocked down on Wednesday evening, officials said smoke may remain visible as firefighters continue to access and extinguish "deep-seated hot spots."

Patricia Rubio, a longtime Boyle Heights resident who lives near the warehouse, said she spent days calling several numbers, trying to reach city offices for assistance without success. That's when she turned to ABC7 On Your Side.

"I tried. I called the council person's office and got no answer. Then nothing except that the mailbox was full," Patricia Rubio said.

Inside her home, windows were shut and air conditioning units remained off as smoke lingered outside. Like many in the area, she said the need for an air purifier is urgent.

Patricia Rubio is confined to her bed, while her son is in remission after battling cancer.

Despite her frustration, Patricia Rubio said she understands that the need is great and believes other residents may need the purifiers more.

"The air purifier just, you know, the masks doesn't bother me... but it's just, I guess it's just the lack of response when I call for it," she said.

Her son, Victor Rubio, said the uncertainty about the air quality has been alarming.

"It's very scary to me because I don't, again, I don't know what kind of chemicals are in the air. And I'm not trying to get cancer for a third time because of, again, chemicals that have been here in Boyle Heights, not just from the fire, but from other facilities that have gone around here," Victor Rubio said.

Adding to the frustration is the dividing line between Boyle Heights and neighboring East Los Angeles. While both communities are near the fire, the aid comes from different governing agencies. Like in the Rubio family's case, many people feel overlooked.

Eyewitness News reached out to the offices of Councilmember Ysabel Jurado and Mayor Karen Bass. The mayor's office told us it delivered an air purifier to the Rubio home on Wednesday morning and thanked ABC7 for flagging the situation.

Still, Patricia Rubio and her family voiced another widespread concern -- not just about the immediate needs for the community's health and safety, but the long-term.

'We need somebody to be accountable for actually what's going on. We need to know what chemicals were burning that are in the air. Are they still in the air? How long are they going to be in the air?" Victor Rubio said.

"They've come through. It's been great, and I very much appreciate the air purifier, because it helps," Patricia Rubio said.

For many Boyle Heights and East L.A. residents, the threat and reality of environmental contamination is not new. From a recent oil spill to contamination from the former Exide Technologies battery recycling plant nearby, concerns are ongoing.

The warehouse fire in Boyle Heights that burned for more than a week has been officially declared knocked down, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The department said the knockdown was declared just before 6 p.m. An LAFD spokesperson said that doesn't mean it won't continue to smoke, but the fire is considered knocked down.

The fire started last Wednesday.

A week after a massive warehouse fire first ignited in Boyle Heights, firefighters are close to having it fully knocked down.

A week after a massive fire first ignited at the Lineage cold-storage warehouse in Boyle Heights, firefighters are close to having it fully knocked down.

Eyewitness News spotted several water drops at the site on Wednesday.

Wednesday marked one full week that the Lineage cold-storage warehouse has been burning, and finally, the fire is expected to be extinguished by midnight.

"The goal, from our fire chief himself, would like us to have a knockdown on this fire by tonight at midnight, however, safety is our No. 1 priority, so we're managing that," said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Milo Cope.

What started as solar panels igniting on the roof turned into a full-blown catastrophe, paralyzing parts of Boyle Heights and East L.A. as smoke inundated the region day and night.

"They want the fire to be out. They've been waiting, and it's the seventh day of this fire," said Kimberly Ortega, the communications director for L.A. County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis.

There are signs that the operation is set to transition from firefight to cleanup. With the fire 90% contained and fire engines leaving the scene, environmental cleanup crews were spotted arriving on Wednesday, set to move in as soon as the flames are fully extinguished.

Over the weekend, a Chinook helicopter was spotted performing water drops on the center of the building, even as the corner of the roof had reignited and was burning out of control. LAFD revealed crews were trying to intentionally collapse the roof, or at least punch a hole in it to gain access to the fire inside.

"We were even dropping 3,000 gallons at a time with the Chinook helicopter to try and blow that roof out," Cope said. "We weren't very successful with that, but it did put a few small holes in that roof. Now, these helicopters are finding heat directly below one of those holes, so we're using them to drop about 480 gallons of water at a time through that hole, and hopefully hit the fire itself down there."