--- title: "Boyle Heights Cleanup Begins on Tens of Millions of Pounds of Rotting Food" description: "Cleanup crews have begun clearing the fire-gutted Lineage Logistics cold-storage warehouse in Boyle Heights, where an estimated 85 million pounds of frozen food sat when the blaze struck — roughly half of it now spoiled and rotting in the summer heat, leaving neighbors to contend with a powerful stench and a growing rat problem." category: "Los Angeles" category_url: https://herald.la/category/los-angeles author: "Tyler Grant" published: 2026-06-29T21:48:00.000Z updated: 2026-06-29T21:48:00.000Z canonical: https://herald.la/article/boyle-heights-cleanup-begins-on-tens-of-millions-of-pounds-of-rotting-food tags: ["Boyle Heights", "Lineage Logistics", "warehouse fire", "cleanup", "air quality", "public health", "AQMD"] --- # Boyle Heights Cleanup Begins on Tens of Millions of Pounds of Rotting Food Cleanup crews have begun clearing the fire-gutted Lineage Logistics cold-storage warehouse in Boyle Heights, where an estimated 85 million pounds of frozen food sat when the blaze struck — roughly half of it now spoiled and rotting in the summer heat, leaving neighbors to contend with a powerful stench and a growing rat problem. The smoke is gone from Boyle Heights. What replaced it may be harder for neighbors to escape. ## Site turned over, cleanup underway The Los Angeles Fire Department returned control of the roughly 500,000-square-foot warehouse on South Los Palos Street to its owner and to Lineage Logistics — the world's largest cold-storage company — late last week, about eight days after the fire that ignited June 17 burned for the better part of a week. Lineage has hired [Signal Restoration Services](https://ktla.com/news/local-news/boyle-heights-warehouse-cleanup-begins-as-crews-face-85-million-pounds-of-spoiled-food/) to lead the remediation and says it will use sealed, watertight trailers to haul waste off-site and limit odors in transit. The company has promised "the fastest cleanup process possible" but set no firm deadline. The South Coast Air Quality Management District and the U.S. EPA are overseeing disposal. ## A staggering amount of spoiled product When the fire broke out, the facility held an estimated [85 million pounds of frozen food](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/boyle-heights-warehouse-fire-cleanup-food/3909320/) — beef, pork, poultry and seafood bound for West Coast stores and restaurants. Fire officials estimate roughly half was destroyed in the blaze, leaving somewhere around 40 to 45 million pounds of spoiled product to be physically removed — a disposal job nearly without precedent for a single urban site in Los Angeles County. ## Residents: stench and rats For the working-class families across the street, the week-long plume of smoke has given way to the smell of tens of millions of pounds of protein decaying in the heat. "It's a smell that's very bad to inhale, especially people who have illnesses," neighbor Juan Hidalgo told [FOX 11](https://www.foxla.com/news/boyle-heights-warehouse-fire-rotting-meat-odor-rat-crisis). One resident said he was moving out July 1. Video shared on social media showed rats near the warehouse even before crews ramped up, and neighbors fear the rodent population will grow as decomposition accelerates and food is disturbed during removal. The AQMD, which has run continuous air monitoring since the fire, reports readings near the site have generally stayed close to background levels, with brief spikes inside the smoke plume; residents can report odors to its hotline at 1-800-288-7664. ## Cause unknown, oversight in question The official cause of the fire remains undetermined. Lineage has said it believes the blaze began as contractors tested a rooftop solar array, a characterization the solar parties have not confirmed. A potentially more damaging thread runs through city records: the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety [opened two code-enforcement investigations](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/los-angeles-boyle-heights-warehouse-fire-investigating-construction/) the day of the fire — one for a structure at risk of collapse, another for construction done without permits — and CBS News reported that the same roof was damaged in a 2024 fire, after which no repair permits were pulled and no city roof inspections were conducted. Cal/OSHA is also inspecting. County Supervisor Hilda Solis and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado have demanded a full accounting of the fire's cause and the site's compliance history, and Mayor Karen Bass has said responsible parties will be held accountable. The episode extends the Herald's earlier reporting on gaps in the city's oversight of hazardous industrial facilities near homes; ammonia, used in the plant's refrigeration, had been removed before the fire, averting a potential secondary disaster. ## Sources - [Boyle Heights warehouse cleanup begins as crews face 85 million pounds of spoiled food](https://ktla.com/news/local-news/boyle-heights-warehouse-cleanup-begins-as-crews-face-85-million-pounds-of-spoiled-food/) - [Foul odors overwhelm Boyle Heights as food sits inside burned warehouse](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/boyle-heights-warehouse-fire-cleanup-food/3909320/) - [Los Angeles investigating alleged unpermitted construction at warehouse](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/los-angeles-boyle-heights-warehouse-fire-investigating-construction/)