A fire at “Big Bear,” a cold storage facility operated by Lineage in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., caught on fire 17 June and has been burning for multiple days.
The cause of the fire has yet to be confirmed, though reports speculate it could be in relation to the servicing of solar panels on the facility's roof. Lineage has reported there have been no associated injuries.
The facility remains closed, and the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) is responding to the scene in coordination with other local officials. Lineage is a Novi, Michigan, U.S.A.-headquartered cold chain storage provider with facilities across North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.
“We are grateful and encouraged by the news from the Los Angeles Fire Department that, while things can always change, they are looking to extinguish the fire in days and turn over the building to the owner and our company for clean up as early as Friday,” Lineage said in a release. “The bravery and expertise we have seen from the firefighters of the LAFD is nothing less than extraordinary ... From the beginning, we have been working closely with the fire department, resulting in our sourcing and funding high-powered water cannons from elsewhere in Southern California and from Texas and funding Chinook helicopters that are capable of continuous massive water drops.”
The facility is located near the Port of Los Angeles and boasts 491,000 square feet of warehouse space for both imports and exports. Services offered at this facility include cold storage, blast freezing, multivendor consolidation, customs brokerage, drayage services, case picking, and supply chain engineering.
Another concern at the facility besides the fire is that rapid refrigeration often utilizes ammonia, which can emit a toxic chemical gas into the environment. Lineage reported that no unusual concentrations of ammonia have been detected in the air at any point.
“We want to be transparent with the community about what is stored in this building. This building is used to store food – meat, bread, and other foods you would find at a grocery store – not hazardous materials,” the release said.
In a release by LAFD, officials confirmed that on-ground crew were able to “pump out the ammonia and transport it offsite,” removing any further risk of ammonia exposure.
LAFD said crews currently cannot enter cold storage areas “due to unstable storage racks, a compromised roof, and products that could shift or fall.” LAFD has to use the same machinery it would for industrial fires, such as long-reach excavators and dozers, to remove debris and hidden hot spots.
Lineage said it is “actively securing alternative warehouse capacity” throughout Los Angeles to re-home Lineage customers in the “Big Bear” facility. Transportation services team will also help move product once available.
In addition to providing assistance to LAFD, Lineage is providing air purifiers and masks to community members and brought in food trucks to feed residents of Boyle Heights and firefighters in the area. Lineage also donated USD 2 million (EUR 1.7 million) to the California Community Impact Fund (CCIF) for immediate support to Boyle Heights residents impacted by the fire.
