# What we know: the Boyle Heights / Lineage cold-storage fire — a factual record

**Purpose.** This is a neutral compilation of documented, publicly verifiable facts about the June 17, 2026 fire at the Lineage cold-storage facility in Boyle Heights, and about the facility and company's public record. It **draws no conclusions, makes no allegations, and does not connect any party's lawful activity to any outcome.** Each item is sourced and dated. Where something is officially undetermined or not publicly released, it is labeled as such. Readers can follow the sources and judge for themselves.

Last updated June 25, 2026. This is an active incident; time-sensitive facts will change.

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## 1. The fire

- A fire began about **2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17, 2026**, at the Lineage cold-storage warehouse at **1400 S. Los Palos Street, Los Angeles, CA 90023** (Boyle Heights). [LAFD/news]
- The fire involved the building's **rooftop solar panels**, and an **anhydrous-ammonia refrigerant line was compromised** during the fire. The facility stored roughly **85 million pounds of frozen food.** [LAFD; CBS LA]
- **Shelter-in-place** orders were issued and lifted more than once over the following days. **No injuries** were reported. [LAFD; news]
- The fire was **knocked down about 6 p.m. on June 24, 2026** (about a week after ignition); LAFD set a **full-extinguishment target of about Friday, June 26.** [LAFD; news]
- **Mayor Karen Bass declared a City local emergency** (June 20) and **Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles County** (June 20). [Mayor's office; Cal OES]
- The **cause is officially under investigation / undetermined.** Lineage stated the fire "was not caused by our operations or our team" and that it believes the fire began on the roof while the solar array's owner, **Altus Power**, was conducting tests. **Altus Power disputed that**, stating the cause "has yet to be determined" and that it is "cooperating fully with the authorities." As of late June, investigators had not yet accessed the roof; officials said the fire was not believed suspicious. [ABC7; NBC LA; CBS LA] *(These are the two private parties' competing statements; no official cause has been determined.)*
- **Lineage's stated ownership position:** it is the tenant-operator of the warehouse and does not own the building or the rooftop solar array, which it leases to a third-party solar company (Altus Power) responsible for the array's operation and maintenance. [Lineage statement via NBC LA]
- **The parties, as named in reporting:** the **building** is reported to be owned by **Chill Build Los Angeles I, LLC**; the **rooftop solar array** by **Los Palos Street Operating, LLC**, a subsidiary of **Altus Power**; and the **solar service contractor** is **Pearce**, a subsidiary of **CBRE**. [ABC7; CBS LA] *(Reported names; the recorded deed and the lease/service contracts are the primary documents to confirm.)*
- **Federal engagement:** **U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez** publicly urged EPA and FEMA to be ready to support the response. [Rep. Gomez's office]
- **Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado (CD-14)** called for an **independent investigation** into the cause and, on **June 23, 2026**, introduced a **three-motion City Council package**: (1) air-quality relief funding; (2) expanded DASH transit service; and (3) an investigation motion directing LAFD to report on the fire's cause, the facility's compliance history, and oversight. She is also **demanding public release of the air-quality and environmental testing results in plain-language, bilingual (English and Spanish) form**, along with a full report of what materials were in the facility and what burned. [NBC LA, June 22–23]
- The **South Coast AQMD issued and repeatedly extended a Particle Pollution Advisory.** [AQMD]
- On **June 23, 2026, the LA County Board of Supervisors passed a motion (Item 11-B, "Responding to the Los Palos Incident and Ratifying the Local Emergency," submitted by Supervisor Solis with Supervisor Hahn)** directing the County to work with **city AND state partners** to **investigate the facility, pursue potential enforcement, and establish a claims process** for impacted residents and businesses, and **ratifying the joint local emergency declaration.** It directed County Counsel, Emergency Management, County Fire, and Public Health to ratify the local emergency, ensure any rebuild meets health/safety codes, and monitor air quality — with report-backs in 30 and 90 days. [LA County BOS Supplemental Agenda, June 23, 2026]

## 2. The facility

- The site is operated by **Lineage** (the company describes itself as the tenant-operator; it states the building and rooftop solar array are third-party-owned). It was formerly a Preferred Freezer Services facility (Lineage acquired Preferred Freezer in 2019). [company; OSHA records]
- The facility's **EPA Risk Management Program filing (Facility ID 100000238511) lists a maximum of 12,300 pounds of anhydrous ammonia**, above the 10,000-lb federal Process Safety Management threshold. [EPA RMP data]
- That RMP filing's five-year accident history records **one prior release at the site, on July 22, 2020** (ammonia, ~16 lbs, one injury). [EPA RMP data]
- A **2020 Cal/OSHA Process Safety Management inspection of this facility** (Inspection 1486434.015, opened Aug 3, 2020; ammonia emphasis) **initially issued 12 citations — 4 of them serious** — including the **emergency-action-plan, respiratory-protection, and HAZWOPER emergency-response** standards (and process-safety-management items), with a **$73,300 initial penalty.** **The company contested; an administrative law judge deleted most of the citations, and the final outcome was 3 non-serious ("Other") violations and a $2,200 penalty** (case closed June 6, 2022). [OSHA IMIS 1486434.015] *(Stated in full: both the initial citations and the reduced final outcome are part of the public record.)*
- **The same roof had a solar-panel fire on August 14, 2024**, which LAFD extinguished in about 48 minutes with no injuries; LAFD's release stated the cause was under investigation. [LAFD release, Aug 14, 2024]

## 3. Air quality and health information

- Officials (LAFD, AQMD) stated there were **no measurable ammonia concentrations in the community** and that monitoring showed no toxic substances beyond normal structure-fire combustion products; Lineage **removed the remaining on-site ammonia offsite.** [LAFD; AQMD; company]
- **Hazmat upgrade (CONFIRMED):** LAFD **detected hydrogen fluoride** consistent with a **lithium-ion battery** (likely a battery-powered forklift) igniting — an upgrade from the earlier hypothetical that such a release was possible. [LAFD]
- As of this writing, officials had **released qualitative descriptions and AQI categories**, and AQMD said a post-incident report on particulates, ammonia, VOCs, and metals would follow; **detailed quantitative monitoring data had not been publicly released.** [AQMD; news] *(Stated as a fact about what has/has not been published — not a characterization of intent.)*
- AQMD and LA County Public Health issued **smoke advisories** and guidance to stay indoors. [AQMD; LA County DPH]

## 4. The company's documented safety and regulatory record (public databases)

The following are documented entries in public federal and state databases. They are listed as record, without characterization. Some predate Lineage's ownership of the relevant company and are marked.

- **2010 — Theodore, Alabama (Millard Refrigerated Services):** an anhydrous-ammonia release; EPA/DOJ later imposed a $3.0M Clean Air Act civil penalty; the U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigated. **Predates Lineage's 2014 acquisition of Millard.** [EPA; DOJ; CSB]
- **2016 — McAllen, Texas:** OSHA citation (#1099235) involving anhydrous ammonia; penalty $58,000 reduced to $45,000 on settlement. A separate ammonia leak was reported at McAllen in April 2025. [OSHA; news]
- **2020 — Statesville, North Carolina:** a fatal anhydrous-ammonia release (one worker killed, others injured); NC OSH issued 9 citations; final penalty $107,400. [OSHA/NC DOL records]
- **2021–2023 — worker fatalities:** OSHA records document worker deaths at Lineage facilities in Everett, MA (2021), Gaston, SC (2021), Brockport, NY (2022), and Portsmouth, VA (2023) — predominantly forklift-related. [OSHA records]
- **2023 — Altoona, Iowa:** EPA Clean Air Act / Risk Management Program settlement, $172,591, for ammonia-related RMP violations. [EPA]
- **April 21, 2024 — Finley/Kennewick, Washington:** a fire at a Lineage cold-storage warehouse burned for roughly 60 days and destroyed the facility; cause was reported as undetermined; the facility was demolished and deregistered. [news; WA Ecology; SEC filings]
- **2024 — Richland, WA and New Castle, DE:** OSHA/state citations (a willful air-contaminant case in Richland; a repeat case at the New Castle ammonia facility). [OSHA records]
- **Aggregate:** Good Jobs First's Violation Tracker compiles roughly **$5.06M in penalties across ~77 records** for the Lineage corporate family (a majority of the dollar total is the inherited 2010 Millard case). [Violation Tracker]
- **SEC filings** report that Lineage recorded a **net gain from insurance recovery** related to the Finley fire (FY2024 and FY2025). [Lineage 10-K/10-Q] *(Stated as a documented accounting fact.)*

## 5. Public lobbying and political-disclosure record (stated as fact, no inference)

- **LA City:** Lineage is a registered Los Angeles City lobbying client (firm: Veritas Public Affairs), with filings since Q4 2023. The disclosed project location is **1400 S. Los Palos Street**; project names "Big Bear" (2023–24), **"Rapid Shutoff Device" (2025)**, and **"Linear Generator Interconnection" (2026)**; agencies lobbied include the **Department of Water & Power** and, in Q3 2025, the **Fire Department**; disclosed fees total $107,500. **The records show the subject, agencies, timing, and amounts; they do not show outcomes**, and no connection to the fire is asserted. [LA City Ethics open data]
- **Post-fire, Lineage registered a second city lobbying firm, M Strategic Communications**, for a "FIRE IMPACT" crisis-communications engagement (filed June 19, 2026, two days after the fire), authorized to lobby the **Mayor's Office, City Attorney, City Council, Building & Safety, and LAFD.** [CONFIRMED — LA City Ethics]
- **Federal trade associations:** the Global Cold Chain Alliance and the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration submitted public comments on EPA's Risk Management Program rulemakings — opposing the 2024 "Safer Communities" rule (joint comment EPA-HQ-OLEM-2022-0174-0184) and supporting the 2026 proposal to rescind parts of it (GCCA comment EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-0313-0335). Lineage holds leadership roles in the GCCA. **These are association filings; Lineage's own name is not on the comment letters.** [regulations.gov]
- **Federal lobbying by Lineage** (via outside firms) is disclosed on rail, food/cold-chain, trade inspection, and REIT-tax issues, and lapsed in mid-2025; **its filings contain no RMP/chemical-safety lobbying.** [Senate LDA]
- **Campaign contributions:** there is **no corporate PAC** and no traceable corporate federal contributions. Documented individual contributions are modest (e.g., a Bay Grove co-founder's $1,800 to a 2026 LA mayoral re-election committee; a 2013 mayoral cluster; bipartisan California legislative gifts in 2012/2017). Browser checks of **California Cal-Access** (state lobbying registry) and the **LA County NetFile** portal found **no Lineage state lobbying registration and no LA County contributions** under the company or owner names. [FEC; LA City Ethics; Cal-Access; LA County NetFile]
- **June 2026:** Lineage announced a **$2 million contribution to the California Community Foundation** for fire-relief distribution to affected residents. This is charitable disaster relief, not a political contribution. [NBC LA]
- **Ownership / control:** Lineage, Inc. (Nasdaq: LINE) IPO'd in July 2024, but **Bay Grove affiliates hold more than 50% of the voting power** (a "controlled company"). Co-Executive Chairmen **Adam Forste and Kevin Marchetti** control it via BG Capital → BGLH; **Greg Lehmkuhl** is CEO; pre-IPO investors **Stonepeak and BentallGreenOak** hold board-nomination rights. The public float (~88% institutional, Vanguard largest) is mostly passive index funds, which implies nothing about influence. See `Ownership_and_Shareholders.md`. [CONFIRMED — 2026 proxy]

## 6. What is not yet publicly known (open items)

- The **official cause** of the June 2026 fire (under investigation).
- **Detailed quantitative air-monitoring data** from the fire (AQMD report pending at this writing).
- The **status of any "rapid shutoff device"** or corrective action on the rooftop solar array between the 2024 and 2026 fires (subject of pending public-records requests to LAFD and other agencies).
- Whether any **lawsuit** has been formally filed over the June 2026 fire (as of June 22, 2026, only attorney solicitation was observed; none confirmed filed).
- The facility's **worst-case release scenario and the population in its vulnerability zone** (withheld from public RMP data by federal rule; available only via EPA reading room).
- **Any SEC disclosure of the June 2026 fire:** as of June 23, 2026, Lineage's most recent SEC filing is its Q1 10-Q (filed May 6, 2026, for the period ending March 31, 2026) — **predating the fire**; no 8-K or other filing addressing the Boyle Heights fire has been filed yet. The **Q2 10-Q (expected ~August 2026)** is the document to watch for an insurance/loss disclosure. [SEC EDGAR, CIK 0001868159]
- **Any U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) investigation:** none appears on the CSB current-investigations list for either the Boyle Heights or the Finley fire as of June 23, 2026. [CSB.gov] *(Absence on the list is stated as a fact as of this date, not a prediction.)*

## 7. How this record was built

Sources are public: LAFD and AQMD releases, EPA (RMP database and enforcement records), OSHA inspection records, SEC filings, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, LA City Ethics open data, the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access, LA County's NetFile portal, Good Jobs First's Violation Tracker, regulations.gov dockets, and contemporaneous news reporting. Full URLs are compiled in the companion files (the dossier, the investigation report, the technical appendices, and the political-activity file). Items are labeled by what the records show and by what remains undetermined.

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*This document presents documented facts and explicitly avoids conclusions, characterizations of intent, or any claim connecting lawful political activity to government decisions or to the fire. Where the public record is silent or an investigation is open, that is stated plainly.*
