NewsChopper4 shows the warehouse fire in Boyle Heights just before 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 21, 2026.
Neighbors in Boyle Heights said Friday they are moving forward with a lawsuit against Lineage, the operator of the warehouse where a fire broke out more than two months ago
They say since the fire started at the cold-storage warehouse on June 17, people in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles dealt with exposure to the smoke and then weeks of the stench of millions of pounds of rotting food that were left inside the warehouse
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A report released by mobile health care clinic provider St. John’s Community Health says that of more than 1,000 patients they treated in the area of the warehouse after the fire began, about 36% had serious acute health conditions connected to exposure to the smoke
On Friday, three community groups filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue Lineage in federal court. They claim Lineage has not fully reported the chemicals that were released in the air during the fire and that the smoke caused serious health conditions for people living in communities near the warehouse
In a statement, the community groups said, “Other lawsuits over this fire ask for money for harm already done. Nobody gets a check out of this one. We are asking a federal judge to make it stop, to make Lineage say on the record what it put in our air, and to get our neighbors out of these houses until it is safe to come back.”
The groups say if Lineage does not take those steps within 60 days, they’ll proceed with the lawsuit, and it will be filed after Oct. 27
Lineage announced on Friday that cleanup at the burned up warehouse in Boyle House is at 90%. Annette Arreola reports for NBC4 at 7 a.m. on Aug. 22, 2026.
NBC Los Angeles previously reported that Lineage acknowledged ammonia was present at the warehouse during the fire, but the company said the chemical was successfully removed from the property. The company has said testing has shown no detectable concentrations of ammonia in the air since the fire began
NBCLA reached out to Lineage for a response to the community’s demands and their moving forward with this lawsuit but is waiting to hear back
