A foul mass of decomposing food left in the wake of a devastating Los Angeles warehouse fire is finally being removed — more than two months after the blaze transformed a sprawling cold-storage site into an odor-plagued ordeal for nearby residents.
The overpowering smell came from millions of pounds of spoiled food left to decay on South Los Palos Street after a Boyle Heights warehouse operated by Lineage Logistics went up in flames during a massive fire on June 17.
With the facility’s refrigeration system knocked out, an estimated 85 million pounds of beef, chicken, seafood and other products were left to spoil inside the damaged building.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District said its enforcement team visited the site Saturday and confirmed the completion of a “major phase” of the cleanup, following weeks of persistent odors that drifted into surrounding neighborhoods.
Still, the putrid episode has not fully ended.
Lineage now has seven days to finish the remaining work required under an abatement order, which includes clearing debris and power-washing, cleaning and disinfecting the interior of the massive facility.
The company said it expects the odor impacts to keep easing as the cleanup continues.
For residents who have spent weeks living with the stench, the update is less a cause for celebration than a long-awaited sign that daily life may finally be inching back toward normal.
The Lineage Logistics warehouse in Boyle Heights was left packed with millions of pounds of spoiled food after a devastating week long June 17 fire – more than two months later the final stages of cleanup are underway
Firefighters battled the blaze for days, while residents endured weeks of rancid odors and pest problems
Regulators say the bulk food removal is now complete, but final cleaning and disinfection work remains
The scale of the disaster is staggering.
The June 17 fire burned for more than a week, leaving behind an estimated 85 million pounds of food to deteriorate inside the warehouse.
The blaze was so stubborn that Los Angeles firefighters battled it continuously for days, deploying helicopters, heavy machinery and specialized equipment to attack the flames.
LAFD Chief Jaime Moore said the response required an unusual level of cooperation between firefighters and the private company operating the facility.
‘We have integrated private sector resources directly into this incident command system, which is not something we do routinely, and it has made a meaningful difference,’ Moore said at a news conference.
Moore also said Lineage offered whatever assistance firefighters needed to bring the blaze under control.
‘Lineage stepped up and said whatever you need to put this fire out, we will offer it to you,’ he said. ‘We want to reduce the impact on this community.’
The fire was eventually put out on June 24, but the battle inside the warehouse was only beginning.
Now regulators say a new seven-day countdown has begun as per Los Angeles Times
Since July 12, South Coast AQMD have received more than 4,900 odor complaints from the surrounding area as per NBC
Regulators have issued dozens of notices of violation during the cleanup period and have continued daily inspections and air monitoring around the site, as per NBC
With refrigeration destroyed and millions of pounds of food trapped inside, the building became an enormous source of decay.
Residents complained of a putrid stench, while flies and other pests descended on the neighborhood.
South Coast AQMD ultimately recorded dozens of violations involving the facility, while the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued more than 30 citations totaling $600,000 over conditions including decaying organic waste and fly activity.
The cleanup itself proved far more complex than simply hauling garbage away.
Workers had to remove food from a severely damaged six-story structure, with vast quantities trapped inside its racking system. Lineage said hundreds of workers and contractors were involved and that it expected to spend roughly $100 million addressing the disaster.
At one point the company said about 400 workers were reporting to the site each day.
But the slow progress infuriated residents and city officials.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass accused Lineage of repeatedly failing to meet its responsibilities, saying, ‘At every turn, Lineage has failed to meet its responsibility… We still cannot get clear answers, and we cannot take them at their word,’ as per CBS.
The company, meanwhile, has insisted that the operation was extraordinarily complex and that it had not held back resources.
‘The timeline is dictated by the reality on the ground, not by our willingness or our resources,’ Lineage said to CBS earlier this month. ‘We have spared no expense, held nothing back, and we are not slowing down.’
The controversy has also extended beyond the warehouse itself.
An aerial view shows a smoke plume rising from a fire at a cold storage facility in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles on 21 June 2026
Pictured: Los Angeles during sunset
Some of the spoiled food removed from the warehouse has been transported to disposal and recycling facilities outside Los Angeles County.
However, residents in Simi Valley’s Big Sky community complained about odors from disposal sites receiving material from the disaster.
Meanwhile, authorities continue to investigate how the June fire began.
Lineage has said it believes the blaze started while contractors working on a rooftop solar array were conducting tests. Altus Power, which owns the solar installation, disputed that conclusion and said the cause had not yet been determined.
‘Our first concern is for the residents of Boyle Heights, everyone affected by this fire, and for the firefighters working to contain it,’ Altus Power said. The company added that it was ‘cooperating fully with the authorities’ investigating the cause.
The Los Angeles Fire Department and Department of Building and Safety investigations remain ongoing.
Our News Outlet has reached out to the LAFD as well as Lineage for comment.
