LA Mayor Karen Bass says Boyle Heights fire shows impact of warehouses on ‘black and brown communities’
“We don’t want environmental risks or hazards concentrated, particularly in black or brown communities,” Bass said.
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“We don’t want environmental risks or hazards concentrated, particularly in black or brown communities,” Bass said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the Boyle Heights warehouse fire highlights concerns about industrial warehouses being concentrated in minority neighborhoods. “We don't want environmental risks or hazards concentrated, particularly in black or brown communities,” Bass said.
The fires that have smoldered for days in Los Angeles' Boyle Heights neighborhood are believed to have started after subcontractors were servicing solar arrays on the building's roof. This has been backed by Lineage, the company that leases and operates the facility, which said in a statement:
"We believe the fire originated on the roof on Wednesday while the company's subcontractors were servicing the solar array."
The company added, "Lineage does not own the building or its rooftop solar array. We are the tenant-operator of the warehouse building and lease the roof to a third-party solar company, which is responsible for operating and maintaining the array."
Firefighters have been battling the blaze at the 500,000-square-foot facility, dousing it with water as the fire has slowly compromised the building's structural integrity. Inside the building, 5 million pounds of frozen bread and meat products have been decaying, prompting biohazard concerns from Chief Moore.
“The food's not savable, unfortunately,” Chief Moore said during a Saturday press conference, according to FOX 11.
“What we're dealing with now is 85 million pounds of food that's about to go bad and spoil. It's a biohazard emergency, and that's why we've called out to the state.”
Former mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt has been pointing a finger at his political rival, Bass.
"Karen was sipping cocktails in Chicago when the Boyle Heights fire erupted, just as she was sipping cocktails in Ghana when our Palisades fire erupted. I warned you all ... what happened to us will happen to all of LA. That smoke choking out LA is full of lead. Don't breathe it," Pratt wrote.
https://twitter.com/spencerpratt/status/2068828121860587995
Bass was in Chicago at the time the fire began, celebrating the opening of President Obama's $850 million presidential center.
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