Rotting food stench still hangs over neighborhood weeks after massive warehouse blaze

Los Angeles residents of Boyle Heights are still living with the aftermath of a massive June 17 warehouse fire, as the stench of rotting food and ongoing pest problems continue to disrupt the neighborhood, according to reports.

Lineage Logistics, the company that runs the cold-storage facility, had not completed the food cleanup by a Friday deadline cited by Los Angeles officials — though the company disputes that the deadline had passed, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported.

City officials say a 45-day timeline requiring Lineage to clear the rotting food expired Friday at 5 p.m., with the work unfinished. Lineage maintains that the 45-day period started later.

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Mayor Karen Bass said city attorneys are taking action against the company. Air quality regulators told FOX 11 that the disputed deadline has no impact on their ability to continue enforcement.

Lineage, meanwhile, said it’s removed 93% of the more than 80 million pounds of spoiled food from the facility. The company has also rejected the idea that Friday marked its deadline, saying its 45-day timeline began July 7 and runs through Aug. 20, according to FOX 11. Lineage claims it is on day 37, the outlet reported.

Evan Lovett, founder of the “LA in a Minute” podcast and a Los Angeles resident, told Fox News Digital in an Aug. 11 interview that, to him, the smell is still overwhelming. “Even from the freeway, you could still smell it,” Lovett said.

The lingering odor is not the only problem residents have reported. 

An LA County Department of Public Health survey released on July 27 found that 84% of 240 responding households in the area reported an increase in pests. Among respondents, 76% reported more flies, 40% reported more mosquitoes and 35% reported more rodents.

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Despite the cleanup progress, Lovett said he believes the situation has not received the level of attention it would have in some other parts of Los Angeles.

“There [are] a lot of different communities in Los Angeles that I feel like would have gotten a lot more attention,” he said. Boyle Heights deserves the same urgency, he added.

“Boyle Heights is not just where we operate. Lineage has been part of this neighborhood for over 20 years.”

In a statement on its website, Lineage said, “From the moment it started, we have been on the ground in Boyle Heights listening and working alongside this community.

“Boyle Heights is not just where we operate,” the company continued. “Lineage has been part of this neighborhood for over 20 years and the greater Los Angeles area for even longer, employing thousands of residents and contributing to the economic life of this city. We are committed to this community during this recovery, and beyond.”

On July 27, Lineage applied for permits to rebuild the warehouse exactly as it was. 

Mayor Bass called this “a slap in the face” to the community and took executive action to halt the processing of those rebuilding plans, according to FOX 11.

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The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued 25 notices of violation to Lineage for public nuisance as of early August, FOX 11 noted, with the LA County Public Health citing the company for unsanitary conditions and pest-control violations. 

On Aug. 5, the mayor published an open letter to Lineage shareholders. In the letter, Bass said the city and local partners had provided mobile health clinics, air purifiers, emergency housing assistance, grocery cards, diapers, formula and other resources. Separately, LA County Public Health said it distributed nearly 3,900 N95 masks to residents.

“This incident is no longer simply about a warehouse fire,” Bass wrote in her letter. “It now raises broader questions about Lineage’s crisis management, operational controls, environmental stewardship, executive decision-making and Board oversight.”

“The progress made in 35 days of cleanup is nothing short of extraordinary,” Jeff Rivera, Lineage’s chief operating officer, said in a previous statement on the company’s website.

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Lineage said in its statement, as FOX 11 reported, “The timeline is dictated by the reality on the ground, not by our willingness or our resources, and we are expected to spend $100 million on our cleanup effort. We have spared no expense, held nothing back, and we are not slowing down. We will not stop until the job is done.”

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The company also said it is expecting more than 100,000 hours of work, an average of 400 workers a day and more than 4,000 truckloads of debris removed, said FOX 11. Lineage said it anticipates finishing bulk food removal by this Thursday — followed by spot cleaning, disinfecting and detailing through August 27. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Lineage Logistics and Boyle Heights officials for additional comment and details.