The fire in Boyle Heights entered its sixth day with several schools altering operations and regulators issuing air quality warnings for a large swath of the region.
Several schools on Los Angeles’ east side will temporarily relocate to other locations this week due to the ongoing structure fire in the 1400 block of Los Palos Street that is spewing smoke and fumes into the surrounding community.
Activities scheduled at Dena Elementary and Dacotah Early Education Center are both being relocated to Sunrise Elementary School on East 7th Street, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced on social media Sunday evening.
Eastman Early Education Center activities are being relocated to Humphreys Elementary, and Stevenson Middle School activities will be relocated to Belvedere Middle School, according to the announcement.
A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson said Sunday evening that although crews have removed sections of exterior walls, allowing greater access to the fire, the property’s construction — such as supports of a collapsed roof — continues to create “complex and unstable conditions that require a cautious and methodical approach.”
But the agency cautioned that while “smoke conditions have improved significantly and are expected to continue improving as firefighters make progress extinguishing the fire … intermittent increases in smoke may occur as crews open walls and other concealed spaces to locate and extinguish hidden fire.”
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore said if progress continues at this rate, it should be out by week’s end.
Regulatory monitors show that air quality levels ranged from “unhealthy for sensitive groups” to “very unhealthy” since Saturday night in the areas of Los Angeles County, the San Gabriel Valley and northwest San Bernardino Valley.
East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights and the San Gabriel Valley are expected to continue to feel the effects of the smoke on Monday.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom jointly declared a state of emergency Saturday because of the unhealthful air quality.
The blaze at the 500,000-square-foot commercial building began Wednesday.
Lineage Logistics, the tenant-operator of the building, said in a statement that it believes the fire began while third-party contractors were testing the solar array on the roof.
The building is so big and the flames are in such hard-to-reach areas that firefighters have needed to get creative with their approach, using water-dropping helicopters and other heavy equipment.
Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.
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