PVTIME – An ongoing major fire at a large commercial cold-chain warehouse in Los Angeles, California, has prompted a local state of emergency and public safety alerts for neighbouring communities. The blaze broke out in the Boyle Heights area of the largest city on the US West Coast on the afternoon of 17 June local time, igniting rooftop photovoltaic modules and generating substantial volumes of toxic black smoke.
The affected facility covers 491,000 square feet of floor space and features large-scale rooftop solar PV installations. The thermal combustion of the panels’ polymeric backsheets and encapsulant materials produced dense, toxic smoke plumes that could be seen from high up. The extreme heat from the fire also damaged the site’s industrial ammonia refrigeration pipework, causing anhydrous ammonia to leak and significantly increasing the on-site safety risk.
The Los Angeles Fire Department adopted defensive fire suppression tactics, combining ground crew operations with helicopter aerial support to tackle the incident. Due to the dual hazards of toxic smoke and ammonia emissions, the relevant authorities issued a shelter-in-place order for the surrounding residential areas. Local residents were instructed to seal all doors and windows, switch off ventilation and air conditioning systems, and remain indoors with their pets to avoid exposure to toxic gases.
The authorities have clarified key technical details surrounding the incident. The ammonia leakage was solely the result of the warehouse’s industrial refrigeration system, which is a standard cooling solution for large-scale cold storage facilities. The solar PV components installed on the rooftop contain no ammonia compounds and only exacerbated smoke pollution after being ignited by the spreading fire.
At 20:00 local time on 20 June, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced a formal local state of emergency. This measure is intended to ensure that sufficient emergency resources are available over the next few days to support and conclude ongoing firefighting operations at the site.
LAFD Chief Jamie Moore described the incident as highly unusual in official updates. The 46,000-square-metre warehouse contains 38,600 tonnes of frozen food stock, equivalent to 85 million pounds, and operates as a large-scale insulated refrigeration unit. High-density foam insulation embedded in the building’s walls is continuing to smoulder slowly, and persistent gas emissions have been detected despite continuous aerial firefighting operations.
Moore advised residents with respiratory conditions or smoke sensitivity to avoid all outdoor activities. He confirmed that on-site hazardous substance mitigation work has been completed, while emergency teams remain vigilant against biological hazards arising from the deterioration of temperature-disrupted frozen food inventories.
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