Los Angeles Fires: The Latest Is Full of Poison
And rotting meat. As if it wasn't bad enough
Boyle Heights is on fire.
Specifically, a major warehouse full of rotting meat and refrigerant is on fire. This is not the first time a cold storage warehouse has gone up, it happened back in Washington State back in 2024 — a warehouse owned by the same company as this one, it turns out.
Any building fire carries risks. Wood smoke is toxic for us to breathe by nature, and modern construction includes a metric boatload of nasty poisonous chemicals and plastics that release fumes into the air. Everything from insulation to wood treatments to keep termites at bay; modern construction is full of poison.
Cold storage facilities are even worse. Frankly, that’s something we should think about as a society as fire seasons get worse and worse.
All of the chemical runoff from major fires like this winds up being washed into the water supply by firefighters trying to control the blaze. It’s unavoidable, unfortunately, if you don’t want the fire to spread.
It means the people in the local area are doomed to get sick. A lot of people. The air they breathe and the water they drink are both heavily contaminated and will be for quite a while, and the health and environmental impacts can linger for years.
Los Angeles is no stranger to yearly fires, and these are issues that compound. This is all on top of the economic impacts of this kind of destruction; job loss, residential areas in ruins if fire spreads, evacuations sometimes, and of course, the cost of medical care.
People living in poverty, particularly marginalized people, get the worst of it. Rich people have it comparatively easy. They at least have an easier time rebuilding after losing their homes, if it comes to it.
They’re not in danger of ending up on the street.
In any event, this latest fire has people scared, and rightly so. I’m hearing from people living in and around L.A. who are experiencing odd symptoms such as hacking coughs, painful gums and jaws, fatigue, and other such issues.
This is likely due to acute toxicity. Residents are being advised to wear respirators or N95 masks if they must leave their homes, and otherwise stay indoors. Turn off A/C and if possible, run air filtration or purifiers in their homes to keep harmful particulates out of the air.
If you live in the area, please stay safe. Keep an eye on the fire trackers, check in on your elderly relatives and neighbours if you can, and make sure pets and kids are well-protected from the smoke.
Take care of yourselves.
Solidarity wins.