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California’s governor has declared a state of emergency for the city of Los Angeles, as firefighters struggle to contain a stubborn warehouse blaze that has raged for days and continues to spew smoke across the metro area.
The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, announced on Saturday that he was directing state agencies to provide “additional assistance and resources” to help battle the fire, located in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights in east Los Angeles.
“We are coordinating closely with our local partners, deploying specialized expertise, and pre-positioning critical supplies so communities have the support they need both now and throughout recovery,” Newsom said in a statement.
The blaze broke out on Wednesday, after the roof of a 500,000-sq-ft cold storage facility in Boyle Heights caught on fire. Firefighters extinguished the flames quickly, but lingering dangers within the building have made it difficult to completely stop. Smoke has continued to waft away from the building, following the wind into other areas of the county.
The governor’s statement follows an earlier state of emergency announced by the Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass.
“The city and county have opened spaces for families seeking relief from the smoke, and we will continue working around the clock and doing everything possible to put this fire out completely,” Bass said in a news release announcing the emergency declaration.
“This emergency declaration is crucial because Boyle Heights is not just responding to a fire. Residents have lived through days of smoke, shelter-in-place orders, disruptions to daily life, and ongoing questions about what this means for their health and well-being,” Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, said in a statement.
An ammonia line had ruptured during the initial firefighting efforts, making the blaze more dangerous. Ammonia, a commonly used commercial refrigerant, is highly flammable and can emit toxic fumes.
Officials initially ordered local residents to shelter in place due to the air pollution and the possibility of ammonia contamination. Los Angeles city and county have opened smoke relief centers.
“The city and county have opened spaces for families seeking relief from the smoke, and we will continue working around the clock and doing everything possible to put this fire out completely,” Bass said in statement.
Firefighters have been forced to retreat and try to contain the conflagration from a safer distance, while using air drops of water from helicopters to help put it out. Foam within the building has continued to slowly burn, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Once the fire is completely put out, LAFD will have to remove some 85m lbs of rotted food. Officials have said they are working on the biohazard challenges potentially posed from spoiled foods such as bread, poultry, pork and beef.
Newsom’s statement said that the state has made more than 5m N95 respirator masks available for distribution, as well as air purifiers, bottled water and other supplies to assist with the emergency.
“The warehouse fire has produced significant smoke and particulate matter that may affect air quality in surrounding neighborhoods,” the statement said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department chief, Jaime Moore, said in a news conference on Saturday that they have taken care of the hazardous materials portion of the blaze and now they are working on the biohazard challenges.
“We have 85 million pounds of frozen food inside of this facility and the way the building has been laid out, it’s very difficult for us to get in there because there’s zero visibility inside,” Moore said. “Our firefighters are not able to just go in there and start moving pallets.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting
