A state of emergency has been declared in Los Angeles as firefighters continued to battle a massive warehouse fire in Boyle Heights that has spread smoke across the city.

Mayor Karen Bass made the announcement Saturday afternoon after contacting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office for support.

Fire department officials have urged LA residents to stay indoors as massive plumes from the blaze at a cold-storage facility could be seen and smelled from miles around.

“While the LAFD continues making progress, this is a major, multi-jurisdictional incident. I’m issuing an emergency declaration to ensure the City has the resources it needs as this operation continues and to keep the community safe,” Bass said in a statement.

“The City and County have opened spaces for families seeking relief from the smoke, and we will continue working around the clock and doing everything possible to put this fire out completely,” she added.

Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, said that local residents “have lived through days of smoke, shelter-in-place orders, disruptions to daily life, and ongoing questions about what this means for their health and well-being,”

“Boyle Heights deserves clear information, direct support, and full accountability throughout the response, cleanup, and recovery process,” she said.

The LA Fire Department said residents should stay inside and use air conditioning instead of opening windows, noting the presence of unsafe “products of combustion” inside the facility.

“Our chief concern is for your safety and for your health,” Bass said at a Saturday press conference earlier in the day. “No smoke is good, but especially the smoke that could be toxic because of the chemicals that were needed to keep the food frozen in the facility.”

“We clearly need resources from the state to allow us to take the steps that are needed to make sure that this area is safe,” Bass added.

LA Mayor Karen Bass says a local state of emergency is pending as a warehouse fire rocks Boyle Heights.

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The South Coast Air Quality Management District has reissued a particle pollution advisory until 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. A South Coast AQMD air quality tracker showed most of LA in the “moderate” air quality category as of 1:00 p.m. Saturday. Chinatown, Koreatown, Los Feliz, parts of Glendale, and Historic Highland Park were under the “unhealthy” air category.

The “unhealthy” category advises several sensitive groups of people to stay indoors, and that “everyone may begin to experience some adverse health effects.”

“These products of combustion are just not good for anybody to breathe, period,” an LAFD spokesperson told The California Post.

Most of the city should expect to smell the fire, the spokesperson added, as residents from the surrounding county also complained of the odor on Saturday.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services wrote on X that it was “providing real-time aerial intelligence to commanders on the ground in Boyle Heights to support locally led response operations.”

“We stand ready to provide all appropriate resources if requested,” the office added.

LAFD Chief Jamie Moore called the blaze a “very unique fire, a very unique challenge for the Los Angeles Fire Department, for the city of Los Angeles, but also for the County of Los Angeles.”

LA County health officer Muntu Davis said smoke and fine particles are the biggest concern as they can cause irritation of the lungs, ears, nose, throat, and worsen existing lung and heart conditions.

“People really just need to pay attention to how they feel, especially if they have underlying health conditions, and watching children as well,” she said.

Two clean air shelters have been set up for residents seeking relief as air quality worsens in the Boyle Heights area and other parts of LA.

Chief Moore described the Lineage Logistics warehouse, which contains 85 million pounds of frozen food, as “like a giant cooler.” Corrugated steel walls are burning slowly at the warehouse and letting off gasses, even as helicopters drop large amounts of water on the fire.

None of the food is expected to be saved. “The food’s not savable, unfortunately… What we’re dealing with now is 85 million pounds of food that’s about to go bad and to spoil,” he said.

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