As a stubborn warehouse fire continues to send dark clouds of smoke wafting across much of Los Angeles County, residents of Boyle Heights and the surrounding neighborhood are getting confusing instructions — and many are scared and furious. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Diana Rodríguez, who lives a few blocks from the Boyle Heights cold storage warehouse that burst into flames Wednesday, said she has been in a state of fear since the black smoke started billowing from the facility five days ago.
Officials declared a “Shelter in Place” order Wednesday afternoon and have continued to send out smoke advisory alerts. The Los Angeles Fire Department warned Sunday that residents should continue to expect smoke to increase at certain points as firefighters try to get a handle on the stubborn blaze. Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore suggested the fire could be out by week’s end.
“This situation is out of control,” said Rodríguez, who is six months pregnant and also has a 10-year-old son at home. Warned to keep her air conditioning off to avoid drawing smoke into the house, the school cafeteria worker said she has been hunkered down at home in the heat, wondering when officials will get the fire under control, why it is taking so long to do so, and why it feels like the official response is so confusing.
Those complaints were echoed by a number of residents of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles Sunday, as they suffered through their fifth day of bad air alerts, with little idea of when the fire might be put out and what was in the smoke that was sometimes so dense it blotted out the sun.
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