Furious Boyle Heights residents clash with Karen Bass over response to warehouse fire: ‘Who can yell the loudest’

Boyle Heights residents shouted down Mayor Karen Bass and blasted Lineage Logistics executives Thursday night as weeks of unbearable stench from a burned-out warehouse boiled over into a furious community meeting.

More than three weeks after the June 17 fire tore through Lineage Logistics’ nearly 500,000-square-foot cold-storage warehouse, hundreds of frustrated residents packed Stevenson Middle School demanding answers about the roughly 85 million pounds of food left rotting after the blaze knocked out the facility’s refrigeration.

The mood inside the packed auditorium was summed up by signs reading: “We’re being poisoned.”

Residents repeatedly interrupted speakers, booed presentations and demanded to know when the nightmare engulfing their neighborhood would finally end.

Bass, joined by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, Supervisor Hilda Solis, environmental officials and Lineage Logistics Chief Operating Officer Jeff Rivera, struggled to calm an audience that had little patience for prepared remarks.

“I see this as an environmental injustice issue,” Bass told the crowd, arguing that communities of color often bear the brunt of environmental disasters.

The mayor’s comments were immediately drowned out by loud boos.

“We can have a contest of who can yell the loudest,” she challenged the crowd.

At another point, she tried to regain control by asking the audience, “If you want to listen, clap once. If you want to listen, clap twice.”

The effort fell flat.

Residents say they’ve spent the past 22 days trapped beside millions of pounds of decomposing food, enduring overpowering odors, rat and insect infestations, and health problems ranging from headaches and nausea to sore throats, eye irritation and breathing difficulties.

Families told officials they’ve been forced to stay indoors as the smell intensified during Southern California’s summer heat, while business owners along Olympic Boulevard said customers have stayed away because of the foul odor and air-quality concerns, forcing some shops to cut hours or shut down altogether.

Many also accused Lineage Logistics and solar contractor Altus Power of dragging out demolition and cleanup through legal disputes, saying previous meetings had produced little more than frustration and vague promises.

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Bass said she “will fight” for Boyle Heights while discussing housing assistance and financial support for affected residents.

She later said she hoped the crisis could be resolved within 45 days, but that only inflamed tensions after Lineage described the timeline as a “very aggressive goal” — prompting angry residents to argue they had already waited far too long.

Rivera received one of the night’s harshest receptions.

The Lineage executive was met with boos, profanity and repeated interruptions before he could finish his presentation.

“It was incredible to see this team in action,” Rivera said of the firefighters who battled the massive blaze.

His praise was met with another chorus of jeers.

Rivera announced the company would provide air purifiers, utility-cost assistance and housing vouchers for affected residents, but the offers did little to satisfy a crowd demanding accountability and a firm cleanup deadline.

He acknowledged the fire started on the warehouse roof but did not answer questions about a previous Lineage warehouse fire in Washington state, fueling even more outrage.

Questions have also swirled around rooftop solar equipment at the Boyle Heights facility, though investigators have not determined the cause of the June 17 fire.

Los Angeles County health officials have said the response includes odor-control efforts, indoor air-quality improvements and temporary relocation options for the hardest-hit residents and businesses.