Plans to rebuild a burned-out cold-storage warehouse in Boyle Heights have drawn sharp criticism from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other local officials, who vowed the company would not return following a devastating fire in June. Lineage Logistics, the owner of the facility, filed two permit applications for rebuilding just six weeks after the blaze.
The fire, which began on June 17, burned for nearly a week, releasing heavy smoke across the city and leaving an estimated 85 million pounds of frozen meat to decay, causing foul odors in the surrounding neighborhood. Residents experienced severe air pollution and were subject to mandatory shelter-in-place orders.
Mayor Bass, who had publicly stated that Lineage should not consider rebuilding, condemned the company's actions. "I can’t believe they would even think about starting the rebuilding process while they haven’t cleaned up the mess they’ve created… It’s a slap in the face to the families that are forced to live with the consequences of an irresponsible corporation’s actions every single day," Bass posted on Instagram.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, echoed the mayor's sentiment. "It’s outrageous that Lineage is seeking permits to rebuild while the disaster it created has not even been cleaned up," Jurado wrote on X.
The first permit application filed with the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety seeks to "repair and rebuild fire-damaged portions of the building to original, pre-fire condition" without altering the facility's footprint, square footage, height, use, or occupancy. A second application submitted on Tuesday requested repairs to the fire-damaged electrical installation.
Questions have also arisen regarding potential ties between the mayor's office and the company. Yusef Robb, who served as Mayor Bass's former unpaid senior advisor, began doing communications work for Lineage days after the fire. Additionally, the lobbying firm hired by Lineage after the fire is co-founded by Shannon Murphy, a former senior aide to Bass.
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