Boyle Heights fire: Mobile health clinic opens as city prepares for community meetings
ByDominique Newland
Monday, July 6, 2026 7:12PM
BOYLE HEIGHTS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) –A free mobile health clinic is opening Monday at Ruben Salazar Park in Boyle Heights as residents continue to raise concerns about odors and health issues following a warehouse fire
Residents also will have an opportunity to share their concerns during the first of two community meetings scheduled this week. A second meeting is planned for Thursday, July 9
The mobile health clinic will operate through Wednesday, July 8, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The clinic is offering free services including breathing and asthma checks, oxygen-level screenings and blood pressure checks
Some residents say the ongoing conditions continue to affect their daily lives
“We get headaches, we feel like vomiting, so I don’t know what’s going on,” Boyle Heights resident Jose Leyva said. “It’s really bad. I can just imagine the people across the street from it. I just wish they could come and fix this problem because it’s not good at all.”
Over the weekend, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called for faster cleanup efforts by Lineage, the company that owns the facility. Bass also called for housing assistance, health support and greater transparency as residents continue dealing with odors and health concerns tied to the fire
READ MORE | Mayor Bass demands faster cleanup, more support for residents in new letter
You can read the full letter below:
City and county leaders also requested a concrete timeline for the removal of the rotting food from the destroyed facility. Bass has already signed an executive order requiring that the cleanup be completed within 45 days
Meantime, Lineage says the group that owns the solar panels on the roof, Altus Power, demanded they stop demolition of the site
However, the city says it is not asking Lineage to demolish any portion of the building related to the fire investigation, and instead asks that the food waste be removed as quickly as possible
The president and CEO of the company, Greg Lehmkuhl, sent a letter to Bass and County Supervisor Hilda Solis, raising concerns about the stoppage and asking local officials to intervene and allow demolition to proceed
It comes after Bass issued the executive orders
The stench of 85 million pounds of rotting food inside a burned down Boyle Heights warehouse can be smelled from miles away.
“We get headaches. We feel like vomiting. So I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know if they’re working on it,” said Jose Leyva, a Boyle Heights resident
According to the L.A. Times, a spokesperson for Altus said multiple parties joined in asking Lineage to “appropriately preserve and not destroy relevant evidence during its site remediations.”
Lineage says the work it planned to begin on Friday morning would not affect the fire investigation and is crucial to ensure there are no more flare-ups. Lineage also said the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed that it does not require the company to halt the work
“Lineage was prepared and permitted to begin demolition work on the Los Palos site this morning, consistent with your Emergency Executive Orders and County Public Health Directive of June 29,” Lehmkuhl wrote. “Our work is staged and debris is pre-treated and ready to move. LAFD’s investigators have confirmed they do not require us to halt this work. Demolition is required to address flare-ups and extinguish the fire once and for all.”
While some residents say the smell of rotting food is improving, we are learning that ER visits nearby tripled during the warehouse fire.
Containers are staged at the warehouse site, and debris is pre-treated and pre-loaded, ready to move to landfills when they open on Monday morning The company said it is committed to working through the holiday weekend
“Altus has offered no comparable plan and has not demonstrated any of the same sense of urgency. On behalf of everyone in the impacted communities, we ask you to act immediately. Hold Altus and any other party seeking to delay cleanup and fire prevention at the site to the same standard of accountability you have applied to Lineage. Direct them to stand down and allow remediation to proceed,” Lehmkuhl wrote. “The Boyle Heights community cannot afford to have its community held hostage by a party whose equipment is suspected of starting this fire.”
Lineage believes the fire started while Altus Power contractors were conducting testing on a rooftop solar array. Altus Power previously disputed that conclusion
The mayor’s office sent a response to Lineage’s letter, noting that the city has not asked the company to demolish any portion of the building that could be relevant to the fire investigation, and is instead asking Lineage to take measures to eliminate fire flare-ups and remove food waste as quickly as possible
“No court order is preventing you from doing this, and it is critical that you stay laser focused on clearing out your warehouse of your stored food waste and debris since it is that food decomposition that is causing the greatest ongoing harm to our adjacent communities,” Bass’s office wrote in its response
“I am calling on Lineage, Altus, the property owner, and every involved party to cooperate immediately with the City, County, LAFD, Public Health, and regulatory agencies,” Councilmember Ysabel Jurado issued in a statement. “If there are legitimate evidence-preservation concerns, they must be addressed through a clear, written protocol that allows investigators to do their work without delaying urgent remediation. But no private party should be allowed to use process, finger-pointing, or liability disputes as an excuse to slow down cleanup that the community urgently needs.”
Eyewitness News reached out to Altus Power regarding the cleanup stoppage and is waiting to hear back
The warehouse fire broke out on June 17 and burned for several days, blanketing parts of Boyle Heights with thick clouds of toxic smoke and causing health issues for many
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