The Lineage warehouse fire class action.

What happened

Lineage's Boyle Heights facility held roughly 85 million pounds of refrigerated food, cooled by an industrial ammonia system. When the fire broke out on June 17 it ruptured an ammonia line, and for about a week residents of Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Commerce and Montebello lived under a plume of smoke, ash and ammonia. When the fire was finally out, the rotting inventory that remained brought a second wave: odor, flies, insects and rodents that spread through surrounding blocks.

Los Angeles County health officials issued six citations for pest infestation and odor, with fines reaching $2,000 a day. Mayor Karen Bass blocked the company's plans to rebuild until fire investigators finish their work. As of early August the company had cleared only about two-thirds of the destroyed inventory.

A foreseeable risk

A smaller rooftop fire had struck the same warehouse two years earlier. A facility storing that much product over that much ammonia, in a neighborhood that dense, had every reason to plan for exactly this, and residents allege it did not.

Where the case stands

More than 300 residents have already sued Lineage in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging exposure to hazardous smoke, ash and ammonia, followed by the infestation that came after. Community organizations have announced further suits. This is early in the litigation and new plaintiffs are joining.

Who we represent

• Residents of Boyle Heights, East LA, Commerce and Montebello who breathed smoke and ammonia for a week, especially children, the elderly, and people with asthma, cancer or other conditions made worse by exposure.
• Families who had to leave their homes or seal themselves inside them.
• Households and businesses hit by the odor and vermin that followed.
• Workers and businesses that lost income while the neighborhood was unlivable.

What a claim can recover

Medical care and monitoring for exposure, the cost of relocating or cleaning a home, lost wages and business income, property damage and diminished value, nuisance damages for the weeks of odor and infestation, emotional distress, and punitive damages where the evidence shows the company knew and did nothing.

Facts on this page come from public reporting, court filings and agency statements as of September 2026. We update it as the case moves. Nothing here is a promise about what any individual claim is worth.