As Antonio Dorado went on his daily walk on June 17, 2026, he noticed light smoke coming from the top of a warehouse a few blocks away. When he turned onto Indiana Street towards Union Pacific Avenue, he saw fire as the smoke grew darker.
Three months later, the longtime Boyle Heights resident said that while the smoke is gone, the consequences of the Lineage warehouse fire continue to affect Boyle Heights residents.
“The smoke affected us all,” said Dorado, 64, in Spanish. “I know people whose work completely slowed down. It really hit them.”
In a statement to the Los Angeles Fire Department, Lineage, the company that owns the warehouse, attributed the fire to faulty solar panels. However, in late September, LAFD said the cause of the fire was still undetermined.
Officers led by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control conducted an investigation of the fire Tuesday, Oct. 6, according to multiple reports.
Lineage has not yet publicly announced if the warehouse will be rebuilt. In a public statement on Sept. 22, Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said that “the fact that we still cannot explain how this catastrophe began is yet another reason I will continue opposing any permits to rebuild this facility.” Jurado represents Council District 14, which includes Boyle Heights and the warehouse site.
“Boyle Heights should not be asked to accept a rebuilt operation while residents continue to bear the consequences and fundamental safety questions remain unresolved,” Jurado said in the statement.
Some business owners directly affected by the fire received $1,000 to $3,000 from the L.A. County Small Business Recovery Grants. However, some say they didn’t receive much more support beyond that.
“It’s as if they gave me one week’s worth of customers. After that, nothing — my clients have left,” said Francisca Contreras, 55, a Mexican “Antojitos” street vendor located on Mirasol St. and Union Pacific Avenue, about two blocks from the Lineage warehouse.
Contreras said it was “very difficult to know everything that was going on” at the time of the fire, and that even now she feels there is not enough information.
“We’re doing everything we can to get by,” she said.
Oscar Ordoñes, a resident of Boyle Heights for 19 years and a three-year business owner, said his taco stand, once located exactly in the corner next to the warehouse on Los Palos Street and Union Pacific Avenue, had to relocate a block away after the fire.
“It’s tough,” said Ordoñes, 42, “They gave me $1,000, but it was gone like water.”
“We felt the full impact on our sales, and we couldn’t leave the house either. We stopped working for a month and a half.” he said.
Now, Ordoñes is thinking about closing his stand.
“If there was more information and assistance available, it would be much better for us, so we could support ourselves,” he said.
According to Lineage’s website, no hazardous chemicals were stored in the warehouse. But as the investigation continues, the future of the warehouse remains uncertain, and Boyle Heights residents await answers about what comes next for their community.
Edited by Jadon Frank