After spending roughly an hour at the site of the Lineage (formerly known as Lineage Logistics) fire in Los Angeles, L.A. TACO spoke briefly with a vendor and a worker in the area, both of whom chose to remain anonymous. A worker, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, stated that they were upset.
“Imagine working and living here,” the anonymous worker tells L.A. TACO. “The smell is irritating. We can barely sleep. The city said they were providing masks and air purifiers, but we still see people walking around with no masks.”
The anonymous worker also alleges that they saw city officials walk around the block, drop off a box of masks, take a photo, and leave. They explained that other reporters had asked to speak with them and, after seeing their reporting, felt they were portrayed as ungrateful and felt exploited.
In the immediate neighborhoods surrounding the fire, several stores remained open, and food vendors continued to sell.
“We still have to make money,” an anonymous vendor says.
We spoke with an LAFD public information officer who was on the scene taking photos of the Lineage building. After we asked him about the air quality, he referred us to the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), which states on its website that there is an ongoing particle pollution advisory until Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
Near the fire, the Air Quality Index (AQI) reached a “Very Unhealthy” level on Monday evening, but has decreased to “Moderate” as of 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 23.
According to reporting by Caló News, L.A. County officials are alleging that the smoke emanating from the Lineage building is not dangerous.
During our reporting, two L.A. TACO staff members experienced sore throats, eye irritation, and skin irritation for the hour they were there. Despite returning to the L.A. TACO office in Chinatown, their sore throats did not dissipate. About 22 miles away in Long Beach, our Editor-in-Chief had second thoughts about letting his dog jump in the water at Rosie's Dog Beach due to the strong smell of smoke emanating from the cresting waves. He was able to confirm that the city tests for bacteria levels, not so much for heavy metals or other potential materials in the runoff that eventually makes its way to the L.A. River and into Long Beach's shore.
L.A. TACO spoke with Victoria Berdin, who has been on the ground volunteering for seven days, handing out masks and air purifiers and showing support to affected residents.
“I think that the City of Los Angeles has been able to show up and provide people with proper PPE and the air purifiers that they needed. I think that support truly ends at Indiana Street… It’s such a stark dividing line.”
Victoria explains that the majority of folks reaching out to her on social media for resources and supplies are coming from unincorporated East Los Angeles.
“They don’t have the local government that the city of L.A. has. They don’t get the same resources that they do.”
East Los Angeles is the largest unincorporated community in the United States, with no mayor or city council, and it affects nearly 119,000 residents.
“I wish I would have seen evacuations. I wish that people would have been put up in hotels or Airbnb’s earlier. It’s terrifying to me to think of what potential long-term health issues could be developing for people close to the fire. We don’t know yet.”
Berdlin explains that she has had her own set of symptoms.
“I had to come home and do a saline rinse just to be able to breathe. I am over here thinking that’s what these people need right now. They need to have saline rinses, breathing treatments, carbon monoxide screenings, and blood testing as well if that’s necessary.”
“I think that we need to see these clinics that might be able to pop up and provide healthcare that’s necessary for people who have experienced tons of smoke inhalation.”
There is no active shelter-in-place as of now. Residents are being asked to limit outdoor exposure, keep all windows and doors closed, and use filtered air. Council District 14 states that it continues to distribute masks and air purifiers to affected residents and asks them to fill out this form and call 311.
There are also two shelters currently hosted at the City Terrace Park at 1126 N. Hazard Avenue and the Pecan Recreation Center at 145 South Pecan Street.
Uber is offering up to two free rides to or from these locations (worth up to $40 per trip) for residents who are within 2.5 miles of the fire. They are being asked to use promo code ELASAFE26 in the app, which is valid through June 27.
Several independent organizations and community members have also begun handing out masks, distributing donated air purifiers, and building Corsi-Rosenthal box air purifiers—a DIY device made with a box fan and air filters.
This article was updated on June 24th with a quote from a resident advocating for unincorporated East Los Angeles.
