The Brief

The giant warehouse that burned for eight days in June in Boyle Heights had used thousands of pounds of anhydrous ammonia to cool the facility.

Anhydrous ammonia is a common refrigerant used in cold storage warehouses. But it is also toxic, and if it leaks, it can cause respiratory irritation; in large doses, it can lead to lung and eye damage and even death. In 2020, a contractor at a Lineage Inc. facility in Statesville, North Carolina, was killed and others were injured during an ammonia release.

On June 17, the first day of the Boyle Heights fire, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore told CBS LA that ammonia had escaped from the facility.

“We believe an ammonia line was then compromised, because we had a large powerful stream of ammonia coming out,” Moore said as clouds of smoke and flames rose behind him. Moore said the Fire Department had ordered residents to close their windows and doors and shelter in place.

Since then, Lineage and the Fire Department have provided few details to the public about what happened. Lineage has denied that a leak occurred and has said ammonia was removed from its warehouse during the blaze. In July, Moore later reportedly said no ammonia was detected, but the Fire Department has not released results of its monitoring for the chemical or for other toxics during the fire.

More recent ammonia readings raise a separate question: Why is ammonia, which can remain in the air for about a week, being detected more than a month after the fire?

In recent weeks, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has reported levels of the contaminant at a local elementary school about a half a mile from the warehouse that far exceed average exposures for the L.A. area. Lineage has reported even higher levels in fine print on the company’s website. On July 10, for example, one of the company’s readings taken less than 100 feet from peoples’ homes detected ammonia at 13,000 parts per billion, more than double the level the state of California considers safe for short-term exposures. Another reading that also exceeded the safety guideline at 7,000 parts per billion. Several other readings — one measured as recently as Aug. 6 — were also elevated.

Lineage spokesperson Melanie Mendoza didn’t respond to Capital & Main’s request for comment on ammonia levels that the state considers unsafe. She had previously denied in an email that there were any “measurable ammonia concentrations” detected in the community. She later walked that back, saying ammonia levels had not exceeded the state threshold for acute exposures.

“At no point has ammonia reached a level that would pose a health risk,” she said.

What first responders logged

There is still no official report of what happened during the fire. But newly obtained Fire Department records offer a minute-by-minute view from the perspective of first responders as they confronted the blaze in June. A computer-aided dispatch log, obtained by Capital & Main through a public records request, showed that firefighters identified “an active amonia [sic] leak” on the roof of the building at 3:12 p.m. — about 35 minutes after a 911 caller first reported the warehouse fire.

A minute later, the log reports the appearance of “an unknown vapor cloud” rising over the warehouse. Moore later reportedly said the cloud was the result of cold air mixing with hot air and did not contain ammonia.

By 3:25, the log again notes an ammonia leak and says that firefighters would battle the blaze in “defensive mode,” or from outside the structure, likely because it was considered too dangerous to go inside. At the same time, the Fire Department ordered residents to close their windows and doors, shut off air conditioners and shelter in place.

Los Angeles Fire Department hazardous materials crews monitored the air for ammonia and other toxic gases during the fire. But the department has not disclosed its findings. Fire Department spokesperson Branden Silverman told Capital & Main in a statement that “collecting it will take some time.”

A spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass didn’t respond to Capital & Main’s questions about the facts that caused Moore to change his opinion about the ammonia release or about the department’s delay in reporting the results of its air monitoring during the fire.

Lineage reported a “potential spill” to the California Office of Emergency Services about 90 minutes after the fire erupted, according to a hazardous materials spill report. By law, even potential releases of hazardous materials such as ammonia must be reported to state and federal authorities. The report — provided to Capital & Main by the Office of Emergency Services — paraphrases a Lineage representative, whose name is redacted, as saying: “There is no potential release of anhydrous ammonia and no concerned [sic] of release.”

To date, there has been no publicly released investigation of whether a hazardous ammonia leak occurred.

But on Aug. 4, Los Angeles Public Press reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency demanded that Lineage answer questions about a possible ammonia release. The agency gave Lineage an Aug. 17 deadline to produce a “detailed description and timeline” of what happened, to disclose any contaminants that were released and the calculations made to make that determination. The agency also asked for the results of air monitoring that was conducted when firefighters initially reported an ammonia leak and in the days that followed, as well as any emergency response measures taken to stop or minimize hazards it may have posed.

Mendoza said the EPA inquiry is “the agency’s standard response to the notifications Lineage made in accordance with the law.” She added, “Lineage will continue to provide the EPA with all requested information.”.

Publicly, Mendoza and other company representatives have provided little information and have denied there was an ammonia release.

On Aug. 6, Dominic DiCarlo, Lineage vice president of global safety and compliance, said, “We’re highly confident that ammonia from the refrigeration system was not compromised.”

DiCarlo cited tests the company and local fire officials conducted of the refrigeration system and statements by fire officials.

He also said “no ammonia readings were picked up outside the facility.”

DiCarlo didn’t specify when the readings were taken.

DiCarlo was testifying at a South Coast Air Quality Management District hearing, which was held to resolve odor complaints resulting from the warehouse cleanup. The issue of community exposure to toxic chemicals came up repeatedly during the two-day proceeding. The company agreed to 93 conditions to mitigate odors and reduce residents' exposure to toxics, including additional “fenceline monitoring” at the warehouse site for ammonia and other contaminants and notifying AQMD and the community if readings exceed state or federal thresholds.

Mohan Balagopalan, one of the five-member panel that presided over the hearing, in closing remarks, expressed skepticism about the company’s assertion that there was no ammonia release during the blaze.

“I would take that with a grain of salt,” he said.

Balagopalan, a retired AQMD manager and a toxics expert, said he thought the ammonia hazard was likely one reason firefighters battled the fire from the ground and the air via helicopters instead of remaining on the roof.

Angelo Bellomo, a retired Los Angeles County Department of Public Health deputy director, said an investigation is required to discover whether there was a hazardous materials leak.

He said first responders’ observations can provide important information.

“If they say there is an active anhydrous ammonia release, you don’t have to drill them over that,” he said, adding that ammonia is easily detectable because of its distinctive odor.

Smoke from the warehouse fire inundated Boyle Heights.

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Alejandra Molina

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Boyle Heights Beat

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Concerns about ammonia

A month after the fire erupted, there are renewed concerns about community exposure to ammonia. Ammonia can remain in the atmosphere for a week, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

But five weeks after the fire, AQMD air monitoring found ammonia at “much higher than typical levels in the air in urban Los Angeles,” according to Jill Johnston, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at UC Irvine, who has reviewed the data. The AQMD monitoring was conducted outdoors at Eastman Elementary School, about a half mile from the warehouse.

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety also found elevated ammonia levels inside a classroom at the school according to an Aug. 10 report, which found elevated levels in a classroom at the Eastman Early Education Center and in one at Humphreys Avenue Elementary School.

Ammonia “can cause wheezing, coughing, irritate the eyes, nose and throat, exacerbate asthma or COPD,” (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder), Johnston said, adding that “kids in particular tend to be more vulnerable to adverse impacts.”

Boyle Heights residents have told Capital & Main they’ve experienced sore throats, skin rashes, headaches, irritated eyes and worsened asthma, among other symptoms during the fire and its aftermath.

Two of Lineage’s own measurements — conducted by private contractor Onterris — registered ammonia levels that far exceeded safety guidelines.

The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment advises that ammonia levels at 4,500 ppb or higher can cause adverse health effects during short-term exposures. One of the readings, on La Puerta Street — no more than about 50 feet from homes — was more than double the state standard at 13,000 ppb, while the other registered 7,000 ppb. Several other readings by the company showed elevated levels near Boyle Heights homes as recently as Aug. 6, when ammonia levels reached 3,000 ppb near the warehouse on Prado Street and as far back as July 3, with a 4,000 ppb measurement at the facility fenceline about 50 yards from Indiana Street.

It is not unusual for corporations like Lineage to hire their own environmental testing firms. But Onterris, which until April 2026 was known as the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, has earned a reputation for producing health and environmental assessments that favor the companies that hire it. In 2023, when a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, and spilled dozens of hazardous chemicals that caught fire, ProPublica and the Guardian reported that CTEH tested residents’ homes with hand-held monitors and told them the air was safe. But independent experts the news organizations consulted said the monitoring devices were insufficient to detect all the chemicals that may have been present and the monitoring period was too short to capture accurate results.

In 2010, two then-U.S. Congressmembers, Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who is now a U.S. senator, cited the company’s track record as they urged Tony Hayward, then-CEO of BP PLC, not to use CTEH to assess the health of cleanup workers in an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“CTEH has a history of being hired by companies accused of harming public health and releasing findings defending the corporate interests of those that employ them,” they said in a letter.

Onterris’ media representatives did not answer a Capital & Main email inquiring about the company’s environmental track record.

In Boyle Heights, the source of the ammonia detected weeks after the fire broke out isn’t known. The company stored between 10,000 and 24,999 pounds of ammonia in the warehouse daily, according to a report posted by the California Environmental Protection Agency. At the Aug. 6 hearing, DiCarlo said the company had removed all of the ammonia from the facility —more than 10,000 pounds – from the facility.

But Johnston said the elevated levels in the environment could suggest that some ammonia remains in the burnt remnants of the warehouse. Rotting meat that still has not been removed from the structure could also emit ammonia, she said.

What's next

Boyle Heights residents may have an opportunity to question Lineage about whether there was an ammonia leak and how extensive it was. In its letter to Lineage, the U.S. EPA says the company could be required by federal law to hold a public meeting within 90 days of “a reportable accident,” depending on what substances were released. Capital & Main asked Mendoza if such a meeting is planned, but she didn’t respond before this story was posted.

Residents may still face barriers in getting the information Lineage provides in answer to the EPA’s questions. EPA spokesperson Julia Giarmoleo told Capital & Main in an email that “documents are available to the public in response to a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request,” which can take weeks or months to be fulfilled.

This article was originally published by Capital & Main. Aaron Cantú contributed to this report. Copyright Capital & Main 2026.

Los Angeles County has exotic wild animals roaming about, such as wild parrots and peacocks. But what about camels?

No, we’re not talking about that ancient camel found in the La Brea Tar Pits — these animals were brought over for a U.S. Army experiment.

How camels got into our military

We’re going back to the mid-1800s, before gas-powered automobiles changed the way we travel. The U.S. was on the brink of civil war and in the middle of westward expansion.

Typically, the army relied on mules and horses as beasts of burden, but in the new states and territories, they had a hard time hauling supplies over long distances. That was especially true for the Southwest’s dry deserts and mountains.

Meanwhile, camel brigades (also known as Camel Corps) were already in use in armies around the world. These were made up of camel drivers who ferried supplies, transported troops and conducted military cavalry operations.

Great Britain and India used the animals in the 19th century, according to London’s National Army Museum. The Imperial Camel Corps was also established during World War I, with British, Australian and New Zealand forces in the Middle East.

The Camel Corps caught on in America around the 1850s, according to the Army Historical Foundation. The idea bubbled up to Maj. Henry C. Wayne — a camel fan himself — who recommended their use to a skeptical War Department and Congress.

After some years of political finagling, they gave the experiment $30,000 in funding in 1855 (about $1 million today). The money was used to buy 74 camels from the Mediterranean and put them into military service.

The Los Angeles arrival

They were brought over on the Navy store ship USS Supply and went to Texas first, to Camp Verde. As the camels got used to their new home, the time came for one of their first test missions. The federal government planned to build a wagon road to connect the eastern U.S. to the California/Arizona border.

The Secretary of War at the time required the land surveyor to take 25 of the camels on the expedition in 1857, according to the foundation. These “ships of the desert” ended up thriving where horses and mules couldn’t.

The camels could carry a 700-pound load with ease, traveling up to 40 miles a day. They ate off the land and could go over a week without water. After the camels completed the job, the army sent them to L.A. in 1860.

This was for another test to see if camels could be used for mail delivery. They were essentially racing against mules to see who could get from Camp Fitzgerald (a short-lived Civil War camp in L.A. County) to the Colorado River fastest. What the army didn’t realize was that speed wasn’t the camels’ strong suit — several died from exhaustion.

A historic marker on the L.A. Times' old building in downtown Los Angeles on September 30, 1967. The plaque mentions that the area was used as a "corral for camels from Fort Tejon", which is one of the places the animals were sent to in California.

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Mildred L. Harris

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Los Angeles Public Library/L. Mildred Harris Slide Collection/Los Angeles Photographers Collection

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As the Civil War continued, the camels’ future became uncertain. The army was tired of the experiment and the money it cost. The camels were never officially designated as the U.S.’s “Camel Corps” and thus given no real purpose. In California, they essentially floated around L.A.-area outposts, such as the Los Angeles Quartermaster Depot in downtown, Culver City’s Camp Latham and the Drum Barracks in Wilmington.

The U.S. Army eventually sold the camels in California for about $50 each ($1,000 today) in 1864, according to the foundation. These noble animals, roped into what many called a failed military experiment, ended up as circus attractions and on ranches as pack animals. Some were even let loose.

The last of California’s “Camel Corps” is believed to be Topsy. After the experiment shut down, she was used in the Ringling Brothers Circus and movies.

Topsy was eventually sold off to what’s now the Old Zoo in Griffith Park, according to the Natural History Museum, which found her bones. She died there in 1934 at approximately 80 years old.

Tanaka Day, an epic meet-and-greet of people with the Japanese surname, is happening the weekend of Sept. 19 and 20 at — wait for it — Tanaka Farms in Irvine.

"I'm the idea guy around here," said proprietor Glenn Tanaka — aka Farmer Tanaka — who dreamed up the inaugural event. "Some of them [were] pretty good, some turned out OK."

For this one, 400 people from across the country RSVP’d, bonded by a Japanese surname that is one of the most common in the U.S. — and one that speaks to the history of Japanese immigration that first brought laborers here starting in the late 1800s.

Glenn Tanaka runs the family Tanaka Farms in Irvine.

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Courtesy Tanaka Farms

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One of them was Glenn's grandfather, Takeo Tanaka, who put down farming roots in California that span four generations and counting — Glenn's father George Tanaka, Glenn himself, and Glenn's son Kenny, whose three children are a regular presence at the farm.

"Tanaka literally means middle of the rice field," he said — farmers, essentially. And because many early immigrants were from farming villages, he added, "a lot of Tanakas came over."

The 69-year-old figured, why not bring as many of them together as possible — to hang out, tell family stories and help fill in the tapestry of the Japanese American immigration experience united by the surname.

One example is how the incarceration of Japanese Americans in camps during World War II had touched those who worked and owned farms — and ended up having to sell their holdings on the cheap.

Already, stories are flooding in. Tanaka said different siblings from one Tanaka family had sent in their experiences.

One brother read them and wound up learning new things about the family.

"What's really good to know is I've helped create families that talk," Tanaka said. "Because now they're asking, 'What did, you know, great-grandmother do?'"

A new space celebrating the art of autistic and neurodiverse youths has opened on Abbott Kinney Boulevard in Venice, amid the trendy coffee shops and boutiques.

Called “Limitless,” the space is a project of Help Group, a nonprofit that has served people in Los Angeles with autism and mental health challenges for 85 years.

“What art does is it allows people to have a voice who can’t communicate typically. It gives you an insight into who they are as a being,” Susan Berman, CEO of Help Group, told LAist.

Berman said the prime Abbott Kinney real estate was a gift from a board member. Help Group is using the square footage for a community space and gallery to feature neurodivergent artists.

Among the artists included is Noah Remis, 15, whose piece “I <3 NY” incorporates watercolor over the titles of famous musicals like Hamilton and Sweeney Todd.

“Those are different musicals that I know and love,” Remis said.

“Some I saw on Broadway. Just so you know, I also put Cats on there just to anger my dad,” he joked. He said his dream is to act on Broadway.

Noah’s dad, Rich Remis, might not be a fan of Cats, but he is a fan of seeing his son’s love of theater expressed in his painting.

“To hang it up in a gallery with everyone else’s work, it just really adds a special weight to it that I think is certainly not lost on Noah,” he said.

Noah, in response, added: “Don’t get emotional.”

Noah said he hopes other kids will be inspired by his work and maybe even take it home.

Berman, who’s been with Help Group for more than four decades, said she has big plans for the space, which opened last week.

“Our plan is for the community to see the gifts that our neurodiverse artists have, not only in their art but as human beings,” Berman said.

That ocean breeze is just not cutting it in schools in Torrance and Long Beach as Southern California reels from a heat wave.

Parents have taken to social media, created petitions and are proposing a bond measure in order to address the sweltering classrooms as temperatures hit triple digits in some areas.

Only 25% of Torrance Unified classrooms have air conditioning, according to a district spokesperson. And while 90% of Long Beach Unified schools have air conditioning, the schools without air conditioning have to bear this heat spell until the end of 2027 when new air conditioning will be in all classrooms.

What are schools doing to beat the heat?

In Long Beach, the district says there are portable fans in classrooms without AC and the district has installed heat-blocking window covers.

"The things that we do immediately and have been doing for several years, hydration stations,” Keith Butler, the deputy superintendent at TUSD, told the school board early this week. “So our nutrition services freezes blocks of ice, puts them into containers with water, and students are — and staff are able to rotate through and at least get ice water.”

There is also a classroom rotation system so everyone gets a turn in cooling zones, he said.

Can schools close on extreme heat days?

Eric Mitchell, a spokesperson for LBUSD, told LAist, “The District will not close schools because of extreme weather unless the City of Long Beach Public Health Department or a state-authorized emergency response agency directs it.”

Baillie echoed his words adding that a state-declared emergency allows schools to close temporarily without needing to make up teaching time. School funding is dependent on attendance and instructional time.

If a local emergency is declared, school districts, she said, must consult with labor unions to adjust the school schedule to either extend the school year or move to a student-free professional development day.

“Our district is actively discussing creating union-approved ‘weather days’ that would provide a mechanism to adjust the schedule,” Baillie said. “Thresholds would be part of that discussion and might focus on when national weather alerts elevate a heat advisory to an extreme heat event, as they did this week.”

So how can Torrance get ACs in the classroom?

School districts like Torrance pay for facility upgrades like new ACs through district issued bond measures. A school district takes a loan and the people in that city pay back that loan through an increase in their property taxes. That is because there is no specific state allocation of funding for major upgrades or construction. Most of the money schools get from the state is spent on instruction and other student services. There have been some occasional grant programs, like CalShape, but no ongoing source of funding.

This week, a petition to get TUSD to place a bond measure on the ballot to fund ACs has already garnered over 1500 signatures.

But, Baillie said, “Third-party polling completed earlier this year showed a willingness to vote for additional future bonds; however, when specifically asked about the costs of specific bonds to fund the $520 million needed to upgrade the electrical systems and install AC at all 34 campuses, polling showed there would not be enough support (bonds require 55% +1 of voters in an election) to pass a bond for AC.”

And so the bond measure was not placed on the upcoming ballot.

Butler, the deputy superintendent, explained during this week’s school board meeting that parents cannot simply donate an AC unit.

“ One [reason] is it's not super effective to have a typical window unit from a home that would be trying to cool a 960 sq. ft. classroom with 27 students and a teacher, maybe an instructional aide,” he said. “But the bigger issue is the ones that are large enough to really do that, the room has to have a large electrical load, and our electrical system within our buildings where most of them were built in the 1960s, it's just not meant to handle what it does.”

LAist reporter Mariana Dale contributed to this article.