Myrna Silva has not slept through the night since the Lineage cold storage facility caught fire last week, fearing that her children could suffocate from the thick smoke that blanketed much of the region.
The fire was knocked down on Wednesday, but Silva — who lives near the fire site — said they went from inhaling toxic smoke to smelling “burnt bone and foul odor” as millions of pounds of food, including poultry and beef, sat inside the burned building. Her children have been suffering from headaches and throat irritation since the fire.
To top it off, outreach is slow, she said. Details about a resource fair on Monday, held by Supervisor Hilda Solis, didn’t get to Silva until Wednesday. Silva couldn’t access an air purifier until Monday, and many like her can’t afford a hotel. Lineage pledged $2 million to help residents, “but where is that money?” she asked.
“We demand that aid reaches everyone,” Silva said. “We demand that our leaders and government respond better. The little we have received is not enough. …We deserve respect and dignity.”
Silva gave testimony at a press conference Thursday at InnerCity Struggle, where community organizations, including Proyecto Pastoral, Inclusive Action for the City, Legacy LA, Self Help Graphics and the Maravilla Community Advisory Committee demanded that city and county officials immediately evacuate those living directly in the affected area.
They called for hotel, transportation and food vouchers for evacuees, as well as full and proper testing and cleanup of the site, “holding Lineage accountable to the pollution of the neighborhood.”
Organizers also urged emergency state funding, temporary and long-term protections for tenants, and an immediate distribution of masks and air purifiers, including to street vendors. They demanded that community outreach be accessible and science-based.
Henry Perez, executive director of InnerCity Struggle, said Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles residents have not received clear information about the health risks associated with the smoke and toxins.
“For days, we heard that the air was safe to breathe, but our community has been saying otherwise. When the community tells us that they are not okay, when the community tells us that they do not feel safe. Our electeds must listen and act accordingly,” Perez said.
“We must ask the painful question, ‘How can an industrial fire burn for so long next to a densely populated neighborhood without an evacuation order?” Perez continued. “ZIP codes should not determine the level of support and protection that our communities receive.”
“Boyle Heights matters. East Los Angeles matters. We deserve more urgent and greater action, and we need that now,” he added.
Janet Cerda, owner of Cafe Niña, said she closed her East LA coffee shop on Olympic Boulevard soon after the fire. Etched in her memory is the “big black cloud over us,” and thinking, “I’m not going to stay here.”
“I took my own initiative because we never got any type of information to leave,” said Cerda, who operates two Cafe Niña locations, one in Boyle Heights and the other in East LA, which she recently opened.
“No one came knocking to our building to tell us to evacuate. They honestly just left us there to decide on our own and to take our own actions,” Cerda added.
As a single mom, Cerda said closing her East LA shop has tough consequences. “I have to figure out my ways to make my income,” she said.
Cerda said her son, who has asthma, initially thought the cloud of smoke was caused by a bomb. He feared taking off his mask because he didn’t want to get sicker, she said.
“These city officials, they’re not transparent with us. … We do need justice. Even as a small business, this affects us a lot,” she said.
