LA approves initial $5 million to help Boyle Heights residents, businesses recover from Lineage fire

The Los Angeles City Council approved the transfer of $5 million Wednesday to support residents and businesses affected by the Lineage warehouse fire, part of a $10.5 million recovery package proposed by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado.

Households and businesses will soon be able to apply to receive assistance through a program established by the city’s Community Investment Department (CID). A timeline on when the applications will open or when grants will be provided was not immediately available.

A significant portion of the initial funding will go toward improving sanitation services near Lineage, including paying for workers’ overtime salaries to enhance pressure washing, bulky item pickup and to respond to illegal dumping.

Jurado addressed the council at Wednesday’s meeting, describing how the June fire had impacted residents’ health, livelihoods and peace of mind.

“The emergency is still ongoing, and it won’t end until the city can fulfill the long-term commitment we made with them to set a new bar for the level of care that the Eastside deserves. The funding that we can advance today is a milestone in turning that commitment, the promise that Boyle Heights can once again believe in its own future, into action,” Jurado said.

Months after the fire, residents reported dealing with exorbitant utility bills caused by running air purifiers and air conditioners over the summer. Some residents told Boyle Heights Beat that they lost work due to the fire and that support from Lineage, the city and county in the immediate aftermath was not enough. 

Here’s how the initial $5 million breaks down: 

• $2.5 million in direct financial assistance will go to more than 100 qualifying Boyle Heights businesses and Lineage workers in ZIP codes 90033, 90032, and 90063.
  
  • Qualified businesses with fewer than 6 employees will be eligible to receive $2,500 per month for six months.
  • Qualified businesses with 6 or more employees will be eligible to receive $5,000 per month for six months.
  • LA City residents employed by Lineage and experiencing economic hardship because of the fire will be eligible to receive $2,000 per month for six months. 
• $1.8 million in direct financial awards will go toward qualifying Boyle Heights households that were affected by the fire.
• $664,460 will go toward funding supplies and overtime salaries for pressure washing, bulky item pickup, and illegal dumping responses in Boyle Heights through the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, 2027.

The initial $5 million from the city’s unappropriated balance will go to L.A. Sanitation and CID. The additional proposed $5.5 million will come from Measure A funding to further support residents, according to Jurado’s office.  

What we still don’t know: 

It is still unclear when the application will open, how soon grants will be provided and how many residents and businesses will be chosen to receive financial relief. It is also unclear how soon L.A. Sanitation will begin additional cleanup near Lineage. Boyle Heights Beat has reached out to the CID with those questions and will update this story when we find out more. 

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