The Brief

About a month after the Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of houses in Altadena, fleets of smoke remediation vans could be seen parked outside the homes still standing.

Ash from the fire is potentially hazardous to human health, according to the public health officials. Work to safely remove that debris is now in full swing inside many homes.

But there’s no van outside the Pasadena home of a tenant we’re calling Elizabeth. Her single-family rental house is about three blocks south of houses that were incinerated. When she asked about her landlord’s plans to do something about the smoke damage, the landlord ordered her, her husband and her two young children to move out.

“After all the things that we've all been through, to now hear that your landlord is not only not going to clean the house, but wants you out because you’ve asked him to take care of the cleaning of the house ... it's so upsetting,” Elizabeth said.

LAist is not using her full name because of her concerns about further straining her relationship with her landlord and jeopardizing any future housing search. We have reviewed her landlord’s correspondence with her to verify what she’s been told.

Elizabeth is among several tenants near the Eaton Fire burn area who told LAist they’re not getting clear answers from landlords or property managers about who will take responsibility for cleaning homes coated in ash. In some cases, landlords have outright refused to fix smoke damage, telling renters they can either pay for it themselves or move out.

Housing experts say that under state and local laws, landlords are required to address smoke damage. But in practice, some renters are being told by government officials that their only path for getting this work done is to take their landlord to court.

‘No plans to clean this house’

Elizabeth’s family is renting a Craftsman home. The architecture is charming, but like many houses in Pasadena, it shows its age. The old latch windows don’t fully close. Hurricane-force winds were able to spew ash through the cracks, leaving visible residue in many areas.

The worst ash buildup is in her 10-year-old daughter’s bedroom, where the windows blew open, Elizabeth said. A dark layer of soot covered the child’s desk and toys.

Elizabeth said finding another nearby home to rent isn’t a viable option because the market has been flooded with fire victims. There are few available homes, and costs have skyrocketed as landlords increase asking rents — in many cases, higher than what is legally allowed.

“We're still paying rent here, and yet living at a friend's house for free for a couple more weeks,” Elizabeth said. “Then we really don't have anywhere to go because there's been no plans to clean this house.

“Unless we pay out of pocket and clean this place up, it's not going to happen.”

Smoke remediation vans have become a common sight in Pasadena, but some renters say they're struggling to get answers and timelines.

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Who’s responsible for Eaton Fire ash?

Housing rights attorneys and landlord advocates agree that, under state law governing rental housing habitability, removing potentially toxic debris after a fire should be a landlord’s responsibility. They told LAist that renters are on the hook for any damage to their personal belongings, such as couches or mattresses saturated with ash. But it’s the landlord’s job to make the rental housing unit habitable, experts said.

Amy Tannenbaum, an attorney with Public Counsel, said government officials “should be making clear that this is the landlord's responsibility — bottom line.”

Housing experts said many landlords are fulfilling their duty to clean up rental homes. But some may be unsure where to start.

“The first call an owner should be making is to their insurance company,” said Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles. “They need to get a proper abatement company out to the property to assess it and do whatever cleanup is necessary before the tenants move back in, so that tenants have a safe environment to go back to.”

Renters feel out of the loop 

But some landlords and property managers are declining to tell tenants if, or when, they will arrange for smoke remediation.

Jason, a tenant who also asked LAist not to use his full name because of concerns about retaliation from his landlord, said a representative from his renters insurance company confirmed that his policy would not cover smoke remediation for his two-bedroom apartment in Pasadena.

“They would cover my personal property, but not the premises,” Jason said. “I was like, ‘Well, who would do that?’ And he was like, ‘Well, your landlord should.’”

“Yeah, they should,” Jason continued. “But they are, I think, trying to avoid that.”

Jason said he and his daughters have been bouncing between Airbnb rentals and hotel rooms, waiting for updates from his property manager. He said the apartment building has been inspected by a remediation company, but he hasn’t heard anything about the results.

“I don't want to live in a place that could be dangerous with two young kids,” he said. “It just doesn't feel like a very honest, transparent relationship, which is unfortunate when people's safety is at risk.”

Personal belongings are piled on a sidewalk outside an apartment building near the Eaton Fire burn area.

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Pasadena says ash is toxic, but doesn’t violate code

Pasadena health officials have been telling tenants that ash from the Eaton Fire is potentially toxic. But the city’s housing officials have been telling tenants they cannot force landlords to carry out ash cleanup.

Pasadena housing officials have told tenants to consider hiring an attorney and that local regulations don’t specifically address toxic ash in rental housing. The city’s code compliance employees have emailed tenants, saying, “there are no codes in regards to ash so this would be considered a civil matter.”

Pasadena’s building code says housing units are not considered habitable if they contain “debris, garbage, offal, rat harborages, stagnant water, combustible materials” or other materials that could “constitute fire, health or safety hazards.”

The word “ash” is not explicitly mentioned in Pasadena’s code. By contrast, the city of L.A.’s building code specifically lists “ash” and “partially burned building materials” as hazardous.

Tannenbaum, the Public Counsel attorney, said that discrepancy doesn’t mean ash is beyond the scope of Pasadena’s code. She said local laws include broad language about health and safety that clearly cover ash containing chemicals from thousands of destroyed homes.

“If you're saying that this ash probably contains toxic substances — including asbestos, including lead — this is injurious to human health, but it's OK for a tenant to move back in there. That's a pretty callous disregard for a tenant's health and safety,” Tannenbaum said.

LAist emailed Pasadena code compliance officials to ask how they interpret laws governing habitability of rental housing with smoke damage. We asked if they would give a home coated in Eaton Fire ash a passing grade upon inspection. They have not responded to those questions.

The city’s spokesperson, Lisa Derderian, emailed a statement saying issues that affect a renter’s well-being “may give rise to a civil action between landlord and tenant.”

The statement goes on to say, “The [Rent Stabilization] Department is also in the process of offering mediation services to facilitate resolution of complex landlord-tenants concerns, which will be available to fire victims.”

Ash from the Eaton Fire is visible on a windowsill that held potted plants. Health officials have said ash from the recent wildfires is toxic.

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Renters unsure when they can return

Ryan Bell, the chair of the Pasadena Rental Housing Board, said he has heard from dozens of tenants who feel they've been left to fend for themselves.

“I think tenants are rightfully concerned,” Bell said. “Most tenants that I've talked to are simply saying to the landlord, ‘Can you please just give us a timeline? We just need to know: Do we need to stay with our folks for a month? Is it two weeks? Is it three months?’”

Renters insurance plans typically cover temporary relocation costs. But different policies have different coverage limits. And some tenants worry they’ll have to pay out of pocket if remediation work isn’t scheduled soon.

Marah Eakin and Andrew Morgan rent a home in Northwest Pasadena about one block from homes that burned down in Altadena. Since Jan. 7, they’ve been living in hotels and short-term rentals with their 6-year-old twins.

Morgan said their current Airbnb rental in South Pasadena costs about $2,000 per week.

“It costs more than our rent,” he said. “It's much smaller than our house. We don't have most of our stuff. We're just thrown way off balance. ... Like most families, we really thrive on a routine and a schedule. And it's just kind of out the window.”

The struggle to get clear answers 

Eakin and Morgan said their property management company — Cornerstone R/E Management, Inc. — went weeks without confirming whether their landlord would cover smoke remediation or when that work would happen.

Last month, a Cornerstone representative told the couple, “We are working on the basis that until told otherwise, properties are assumed livable,” according to emails sent to the tenants and reviewed by LAist. The representative said, unless anything changed, February rent would still be due.

“It feels like there's no good answer,” Eakin said. “Do we get a rental for a month? Do we get a rental for three months? Should we just cut bait and move out? There's nowhere to move, really, within driving distance of school. So I don't really know what to do.”

About an hour and a half after LAist emailed Cornerstone seeking comment about Eakin and Morgan’s situation, an employee contacted the couple to say a smoke and ash adjuster had been assigned to their case and they could soon receive a refund on their rent since the fire.

Trevor Barrocas, Cornerstone’s operating officer, emailed LAist with a statement: “We are working together with our clients and their insurance companies with the clear objective of: professionally assessing all damage, completing all necessary repairs and remediation; and, subsequently, returning displaced tenants to their homes as soon as possible.”

It's a summer of extreme heat around much of the world.

I know what that feels like. In Uttar Pradesh, India, where I grew up, temperatures easily soar upward of 120 degrees in May and June. But few people have access to an air conditioner. With a per capita income of around $1,000 a year, many people in this part of the country can't afford to buy an AC unit or pay the power bills that come with using one.

So how do people keep cool?

People in India and other countries across the Global South have long figured out ways to deal with horrible heat. I'd like to share a few tips I've learned from my elders back home in India. Some of the advice is just what you'd think — drinking lots of liquids and staying out of the sun. Other strategies might surprise you.

I know that each of these tips on its own may seem trivial. But as a heat wave researcher, I can tell you that done together, they can really help the body cool down. The key is to be mindful of the power of heat — and be prepared to prevent its adverse effects.

And remember, upon seeing any signs of heatstroke — like fever, headache, nausea, confusion or weakness — call an ambulance ASAP and get medical help. Use ice packs while waiting to be treated at the hospital. Seriously, folks, don't delay. Heatstroke can be fatal.

(Also: We want to hear from you! Scroll to the end of this story to find out how to share tips from your culture on how to cope with heat.)

Drink lots of liquids — it doesn't have to be water!

One of the childhood lessons seared into my head was to always be aware of your hydration status. And drink water, even in small sips, as soon as you do any physical activity. Carrying a water bottle when going out is not just common sense but is lifesaving.

Some of the drinks that are popular in India can help replenish the electrolytes lost in sweat, as well as keep your body hydrated.

We quench our thirst with fruity drinks like sugarcane juice, coconut water and a tangy and raw mango juice called aam ka pana. Made from boiled and blended tart raw mangoes, aam ka pana replenishes electrolytes lost in sweat. Premade mix is available from online vendors and in ethnic grocery stores. Just add chilled water and enjoy!

In India, we also like cooling, milk-based drinks like lassi, a yogurt beverage popular in the summertime, and buttermilk.

And eat something!

Another lesson was to never go out on an empty stomach — always eat something. A cucumber (which contains dissolved electrolytes) or a pineapple snack will do the trick. In India, we'll sprinkle black salt on a cuke, adding to its restorative powers.

Shower power

If you feel hot, take a cold shower or at least periodically splash water on your face and hands and douse your head in water — that'll bring down body temperature.

You can also play with water. When I was a kid in India, I'd have water balloon fights with neighborhood kids. Or we'd fill a tub with water and splash it on each other in the backyard.

Find a cool spot to chill out

Seek out the coolest parts of the building where you live and make that the place where you sleep or hang out. Because heat rises, lower floors in a multistory house are cooler. Verandas are shady and airy. During the day, block out the sunlight with heavy curtains. Turn on any fans you have. And don't be afraid to move furniture around in your quest for coolness. Back in Uttar Pradesh, we used to scoot our beds closer to the windows so we could catch a breeze while we slept.

If it becomes impossibly stuffy indoors, move outdoors and lie in a hammock. Air created from swinging helps cool the body down. As a kid, I remember that mango orchards were the best for hanging out. The dense foliage provided maximum shade coverage. The shade is your friend!

Take inspiration from architecture

Among many architectural innovations is a building design called jaali (meaning simply a net in Hindi and Urdu). Think of the Taj Mahal. It's basically a way of turning a stone wall into a latticed screen by carving geometric patterns with a series of small openings rather than a solid wall. This stone screen blocks direct sunlight and also causes air to speed up as it passes through the holes.

Now, it's true there's no way you can rebuild your house in the style of the Taj Mahal.

But you can take inspiration from another architectural ploy. Some buildings have a small body of water outside — like the Hawa Mahal (the Wind Palace) in Jaipur. Wind enters the palace through the jaali holes in the thousand windows and picks up moisture from the courtyard water body. The humid wind then moves toward the palace's thousand windows and cools down the inside air.

A nifty trick to bring in cool, humid air is to hang a curtain woven from grass on the door. Sprayed with water, it converts the hot air into a cool breeze. A special fragrant grass called khus is used for this purpose in India. I've also seen curtains made of fine bamboo — offering protection from direct sunlight — with a fine wet cloth added on the inside for cooling. Or a heavy, dampened cloth curtain will do the job.

The swamp cooler effect

The ubiquitous swamp cooler works best in low-humidity settings. Also known as an evaporative cooler, this electrical device passes a room's air over water-saturated pads, which cools down the air, then blows that air back into the room. These devices are cheaper than air conditioners and use less energy. You can even make one yourself.

Wear airy and light-colored clothing

Rabari people (a nomadic tribe in western India) and many other tribal communities use small mirrors on their clothes to reflect sunlight.

Besides the use of cotton and linen fabrics for their clothing — both materials are cooling because they have big pores in their woven threads that allow for air circulation — their choice of color in their clothes is ingenious. They cleverly make use of the fact that black not only takes in heat faster than white but that it also gives off heat much faster than white. Due to the nature of their work, women frequently go in and out of their tents while men grazing livestock stay out for longer durations. Therefore, to stay cool, it makes sense for women to wear darker colors (these hues cool down fast as soon as women go indoors) and men to wear lighter colors (which heat up more slowly than darker colors during prolonged outdoor stays).

Cover your head or neck

In the summers, covering one's head is an age-old practice. Whether it was the nobles wearing a pagdee (a turban) or the commonfolk using a wet rectangular piece of traditional cotton cloth called gamcha for men and dupatta for women. A variation of a white wet towel, it is almost universal in the countryside and even seen in cities.

Or take a light towel, called a gamchha in Hindi, dampen it and wear it around your neck or on your head like a scarf. This wet garb is omnipresent among men in the hinterlands and small towns.

Even our erstwhile British colonial masters fended off the sun with pith helmets — made of an extremely lightweight, dried, milky-white, spongy plant material that could be pressed into various shapes.

Avoid the noonday sun

During the hottest parts of the day, try not to burn energy or exhaust yourself by going out, exercising or standing outside, because the scorching sunlight and hot air will make you hotter. Instead, do what I did in Uttar Pradesh: chill at home or take an afternoon siesta. If you have to work and have a flexible schedule, try to perform your duties in the cooler hours of the day. Farmers in my state, for example, toil in the early mornings and late evenings. And markets close in the hot afternoons but remain open until late in the night.

Embrace the shade

Whether you are working outdoors or walking down the street, stay in the shade provided by trees. The actual air temperature is the same as in the sun, but your skin won't absorb the sun's rays and cause your body to heat up. Thanks to our forefathers for planting trees for us! And we return the favor by planting trees now, even when we know we aren't going to enjoy that shade in our lifetime. Our kids will. And that's what makes us a civilization.

Your turn: Share tips on how to cope with the heat

Did you grow up without an air conditioner in a hot place? How did you deal with the heat? Email us at globalhealth@npr.org with the subject line "Heat hacks," and we may feature your story on NPR.org. Please include your name and location. Submissions close on Monday, July 20. 

Dr. Gulrez Shah Azhar is a Seattle-based Aspen New Voices fellow who researches the health impacts of heat. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington, a policy researcher at the RAND Corp. and an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Public Health.
Copyright 2026 NPR

A contentious bill lawmakers are debating this year has them asking the question: Should Californians have the right to sue if a company is using unfair tactics to strangle its competition?

Assembly Bill 1776 would expand California’s antitrust law to allow people and businesses that claim they’re harmed by a company’s attempts to stifle competition to sue in state court.

Under longstanding California law, such cases typically can only be brought when two or more parties are suspected of working together to smother competitors. Federal law allows for single-party enforcement, but proponents of California’s COMPETE Act say federal courts have watered down antitrust law to the point the state needs to chart its own course.

The fight is pitting some of the state’s biggest political spenders — labor unions and trial lawyers — against the lobbying might of California’s business and tech industries. Combined, the groups fighting over the bill have given at least $106 million to lawmakers’ campaigns since 2000, according to the CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database.

Proponents say the measure would give consumers a way to fight to keep independent grocery stores and pharmacies open, prevent supply chains for farms and restaurants from being controlled by single firms and give patients more options for their medical care.

The measure’s author, Democratic Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, told the Senate Judiciary Committee late last month that more than 75% of U.S. industries have experienced consolidation since the late 1990s.

“When companies gain that much power and abuse it, that means higher prices, less choice, fewer opportunities for job creators to start small businesses and suppressed wages for working families,” said Aguiar-Curry, who represents the Davis area.

Business groups say if the measure were signed into law it would open up a new way for predatory law firms to shake down companies. Business owners have complained for years about California laws allowing activists and a cottage industry of lawyers to bombard them with cash demands and lawsuits over disability access, product warning labels, labor complaints and consumer privacy.

The California Chamber of Commerce was so alarmed by this latest attempt to increase companies’ legal risks, its lobbyists placed billboards near the Capitol earlier this year. They targeted Aguiar-Curry by name.

“Cecilia, prices are high enough already,” one billboard read. “Don’t make life more expensive for California consumers.” Chamber spokesperson John Myers declined to discuss the billboards.

Moderate Democrats remain leery

If the group’s goal was to pressure lawmakers to drop the measure, it may have backfired.

The rare public attack on a popular, high-ranking Democrat appears to have galvanized support for the bill, despite concerns from several moderate Democrats that the legislation could make it harder to do business in California.

At least one antitrust expert says those concerns are valid.

Babette Boliek, a law professor at Pepperdine University and a former chief economist for the Federal Communications Commission, argues the bill is so vague it would “invite judges to pick winners and losers based on subjective sympathies rather than measurable harm.”

She likened it to having “a speed limit that no one knows exists.”

Aguiar-Curry’s team has been receptive to some concerns. After pushback, she added an exemption intended to protect small, independently owned California businesses, provided they have no more than 100 employees and averaged $10 million or more in gross annual receipts over the previous three years.

Ben Golombek, an executive vice president at Cal Chamber, said thousands of California businesses would still be vulnerable to costly litigation, including from their competitors.

“This unprecedented and massive legal liability for businesses of every size — small, medium, and large — that this bill creates is why we’re so opposed to it,” he said.

Mark Ramos, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council, said the legislation would ensure consolidation doesn’t drive down wages while raising the price of goods for workers. As grocery chains merge, it’s also been harder for his members to bargain for living wages that once allowed workers like him to afford their own homes, he said.

“With that consolidation has come the larger challenge of not … being able to negotiate a contract that allows our members to kind of thrive in their local economy because these grocers no longer have to compete against each other,” he said.

Some Democrats, notably Sen. Tom Umberg, the Democratic chairperson of the judiciary committee, are leery.

A major sticking point for Umberg is whether private citizens and businesses could sue in what’s known as a “private right of action.” Umberg told the committee that he wants only local prosecutors and the California attorney general to have that authority for now.

“We want to make sure that we are not stifling competition by virtue of the threat of lawsuits,” Umberg told the committee.

Aguiar-Curry said she would make most of Umberg’s requested changes, but she wouldn’t commit to limiting enforcement to just prosecutors. She said she’d continue work on making “it harder to bring a meritless suit” in the next version of the bill.

Will measure act as a deterrent?

The bill passed the committee with only Republicans voting against it, but Umberg did not vote when it was his turn, which counts the same as voting “no.”

Not voting is a common tactic California lawmakers use to express discomfort with a bill while avoiding a firm “no” that could anger powerful interest groups or legislative colleagues. Umberg was joined by 15 other Democrats who did not vote when it narrowly passed the Assembly.

The COMPETE Act will next be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee when lawmakers return from their summer recess in early August.

Supporters hope the final version doesn’t end up preventing Californians from suing a company over anticompetitive behavior.

Lee Hepner, senior legal counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopolization activist group, said it’s imperative that ordinary Californians have the right to pursue legal action.

Otherwise, he said, wealthy corporations will use their lobbying cash and political clout to pressure politicians and regulators into giving them a free pass.

“The private right of action is a critical backstop to the politicization of antitrust enforcement, which threatens the entire project of policing markets for fairness,” he said.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will deliver a primetime address this week that he says will include a focus on elections, suggesting he could revisit long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech comes as he's escalated calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules for November's midterm elections.

The Republican president has been guarded about what he plans to say in the 9 p.m. Thursday speech, scheduled as he confronts a collapsing deal to end the war with Iran. He also faces numerous domestic issues, including recent deadly shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Asked for a preview of the speech on Tuesday, Trump offered scant detail but said he has "really big news."

"It doesn't get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don't have a country," Trump said in the Oval Office. He refused to go further, saying he wanted to "save it" for the moment, though he also hinted he would be talking about a hodgepodge of issues.

"We'll be discussing other things, too," Trump said, without elaborating. "It's going to be a very big announcement."

Trump has used the power of the primetime presidential address — typically reserved for milestones — to deliver politically charged speeches before, including one in December when he sought to blame the challenging economic climate on Democrats. But Thursday's address seems poised to go even further, using the moment to amplify election lies before an audience of millions in an effort to boost Republican prospects before midterms that threaten to hobble Trump for the remainder of his term.

On Monday, when asked about the speech, Trump repeated baseless claims of voter fraud in the Los Angeles primary race for mayor. During the interview with conservative outlet Newsmax, Trump said Republican Spencer Pratt lost his primary bid because of fraud, citing in part California's slow vote count.

Federal prosecutors said they were opening fraud investigations in the state last month after Trump drew attention to the claim.

The president's preoccupation with voting fraud and election security dates back at least to 2016, when he refused to say whether he would accept defeat to Democrat Hillary Clinton. After he won, he convened a voting integrity commission to support his claims that widespread voter fraud cost him the popular vote, though the commission disbanded without uncovering any such evidence.

Four years later, after he lost the 2020 election to Biden, Trump again claimed cheating and zeroed in on the Democrat's narrow win in Georgia. Trump called the state's secretary of state and pressured him to "find 11,780 votes," just enough votes to overturn Biden's victory in the state. He, along with than a dozen allies, was indicted in the state though the charges were later dropped.

Repeated audits and reviews -- many run by Republicans, including Trump's own then-attorney general -- have found no significant fraud occurred in 2020.

Before winning in 2024, Trump was again laying the groundwork to claim cheating if he lost. After returning to office, he stocked his administration with officials who back his false claims of 2020 election fraud.

Trump made voting regulation central in this term

Frequently declaring that he won the White House "three times," Trump has made voting regulation a core issue during his second term, demanding legislation that would require voter ID and sharply limit mail-in voting. Facing midterm races that will decide control of Capitol Hill, Trump has stirred new claims to cast doubt on election results that could challenge his power in Washington.

Earlier this year, FBI agents raided elections offices in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing materials from the 2020 election. Tulsi Gabbard, then Trump's director of national intelligence, traveled to Atlanta to oversee the execution of the search warrant.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, campaigning in Georgia for Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and governor's candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, smiled Tuesday when asked about Trump potentially rehashing the 2020 election in his national address.

He called it a strategy "for losers."

"I think people are exhausted by having conversations about elections that happened six years ago, that we have the answer to," Moore said. "He continues to bring this up because he cannot get out of his mind that he actually could have lost."

Beyond Georgia, Trump has widely taken aim at states that allow voters to submit ballots by mail. Trump said he called a U.S. attorney in California and demanded scrutiny of the governor's primary last month as votes were being counted.

Last week, Trump ousted the remaining members of the federal Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan panel that resisted his efforts to require would-be voters to document their U.S. citizenship before registering.
Copyright 2026 NPR

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

When the smoke from the Lineage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights cleared, Guido Borjas, 71, and his family began noticing the smell of rotting food and the sound of flies buzzing around.

“I live five houses down from the damaged area and the flies bother us,” Borjas said. “I haven’t seen any rats but it won’t be long before they come out.”

Now, nearly a month after the start of the fire, residents fear this week’s extreme heat will worsen the odors and attract more pests. 

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued an Extreme Heat Warning starting on Tuesday morning through Thursday evening for much of Los Angeles County, with temperatures expected to climb above 90 degrees. The agency warned of a high risk of heat-related illness, especially for children, older adults, and people without air conditioning.

Borjas said his family has stayed home with doors closed because of the smell. With no air conditioning at home, the coming days will be especially difficult. 

On Monday, he walked home with an air purifier and water bottles from a pop-up resource center organized by the offices of Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, just blocks from his home. 

A resident picks up air purifiers from a pop-up resource center in Boyle Heights on July 13, 2026.

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Bass said the city has opened cooling centers for residents, including those impacted by the Lineage fire, and encouraged people to call 3-1-1 if they need more information.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who serves unincorporated East L.A., said she directed the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management to activate cooling centers serving impacted residents. (Scroll down to find a cooling center near you).

The Mayor’s office also said crews have installed misters inside and around  the building to reduce odors from food waste until it is moved off-site. In addition, 250 bait stations have been installed around the warehouse perimeter and in the immediate neighborhood to monitor pest activity. 

Oscar Ordoñez, 40, owner of the taco pop-up Taquiza Nice, said he can no longer set up at his usual spot across from the Lineage warehouse on Los Palos Street and Union Pacific Ave and has lost customers.

The East Los Angeles resident lives with his family on Alma Street just blocks away from the warehouse and said that the smell is stronger in that direction.

“You turn on the air and all the smell from outside is entering your house and you leave for a long time and when you open the door, the house smells like something that’s gone bad,” Ordoñez said.

Although he usually doesn’t like asking for help, Ordoñez said financial assistance would help pay his bills as he struggles to find work. 

Maria Zavala, 42, said she wants the spoiled food cleaned up as soon as possible before the heat makes conditions worse. 

“I wish the owner would come and sit in the house one day to see what we’re going through,” Zavala said. “You can’t even eat. Why? Because you can imagine that awful smell right there at the table.”

She also questioned why misters have not been installed closer to Ditman Avenue where she lives. 

“No one has come through the streets where we live; no one has stopped by to ask, ‘Do you need any help? Do you need food? Do you need anything?’ Absolutely no one has come by,” Zavala said.

Cooling Centers in East Los Angeles

Centro Maravilla Service Center

East Los Angeles Library

East Los Angeles Service Center

City Terrace Park

Salazar Park

Cooling Centers in Boyle Heights

Robert Louis Stevenson Branch Library

Malabar Branch Library