Oct 2, 2026 · 37 min · 20 segments
It took days to put out the Lineage warehouse fire in Los Angeles this summer. Once the flames were out, the cleanup of rotting food took weeks. Residents suffered health problems, businesses lost…
Alejandra MolinaGuest
Laura Anaya-MorgaGuestNereida MorenoHostOn a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of June, a fire broke out at a cold storage facility in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.
That facility was run by a company called Lineage, a massive warehouse that stored more than 89 million pounds of frozen food.
And what became known as the Lineage Fire sent this rolling plume of black smoke into the air.
The fire's still burning 16 hours later, and there are lingering concerns about the air quality.
The tens of millions of pounds of rotting food inside of the warehouse were sitting in the summer heat, spreading foul odors and attracting rats and flies.
Reporter Laura Anaya-Morga with Boyle Heights Beat went to a community meeting on the warehouse fire in early July, where residents met with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and other local elected leaders, as well as a representative from the company Lineage.
Hundreds of people had crammed into the auditorium at Stevenson Middle School.
Residents came in demanding answers about what was in the air that they were breathing, and they wanted accountability from the people at this meeting.
My main concern is that residents that are suffering from respiratory distress are being sent home and only given Tylenol.
They're not giving chest x-rays.
They're not giving oxygen.
People are suffering.
And it is a disgrace that this county has done nothing to do with
I am sorry for the disruption that this has caused.
I know the biggest question you have is, Is the air safe? Right? Yes.
Public agencies continue to monitor air quality.
In the weeks that followed, residents grew more and more frustrated as deadlines for the cleanup came and went.
What went wrong at Lineage? How will this affect nearby residents in the long term? And who should be held accountable for the fire and its aftermath? That's today on Imperfect Paradise.
On a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of June, a fire broke out at a cold storage facility in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.
That facility was run by a company called Lineage, a massive warehouse that stored more than 89 million pounds of frozen food.
And what became known as the Lineage Fire sent this rolling plume of black smoke into the air.
The fire's still burning 16 hours later, and there are lingering concerns about the air quality.
The tens of millions of pounds of rotting food inside of the warehouse were sitting in the summer heat, spreading foul odors and attracting rats and flies.
Reporter Laura Anaya-Morga with Boyle Heights Beat went to a community meeting on the warehouse fire in early July, where residents met with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and other local elected leaders, as well as a representative from the company Lineage.
Hundreds of people had crammed into the auditorium at Stevenson Middle School.
Residents came in demanding answers about what was in the air that they were breathing, and they wanted accountability from the people at this meeting.
My main concern is that residents that are suffering from respiratory distress are being sent home and only given Tylenol.
They're not giving chest x-rays.
They're not giving oxygen.
People are suffering.
And it is a disgrace that this county has done nothing to do with
I am sorry for the disruption that this has caused.
I know the biggest question you have is, Is the air safe? Right? Yes.
Public agencies continue to monitor air quality.
In the weeks that followed, residents grew more and more frustrated as deadlines for the cleanup came and went.
What went wrong at Lineage? How will this affect nearby residents in the long term? And who should be held accountable for the fire and its aftermath? That's today on Imperfect Paradise.
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