It was a tense community meeting on Thursday night as Boyle Heights residents demanded answers from officials about last month’s Lineage warehouse fire.
KNX News’ Pete Demetriou reported that before the meeting inside Stevenson Middle School was delayed by 20 minutes as protesters stormed in, holding signs and chanting that the building be “shut down.”
Demetriou also reported that once the meeting got underway, Mayor Karen Bass, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, and other political leaders were booed by those in attendance and they could barely get a word in.
Members of the crowd also shouted “liar’ at Lineage Chief Operating Officer Jeff Rivera, who offered a timetable for a cleanup of the more than 85 million pounds of rotting food at the site.
“The mayor put an aggressive 45-day schedule, and we're going to beat that,” he said. “We're working hard to be able to beat that, and we appreciate the support from the entire leadership team here to help remove roadblocks so we can go fast.”
During the meeting, Clean Harbors spokesman Brian Martin outlined the progress his company has made so far in removing debris and rotting food.
“We removed approximately 1.4 million pounds of solid material in just a few days,” he said. “We also have staged 3.2 million pounds that we expect to be moved within the next few days, and we'll continue this operation.”
Officials also pledged there would be improved communication with the community on the progress of the cleanup.
But Ezekiel Olvera were told Demetriou he was not satisfied with some of the explanations offered or pledges for more relief paid for by Lineage.
“The people who were here to hold accountable gave a very mediocre presentation that they would give to a 5th-grade class, and some of the answers that they give were not direct,” he said.
Anthony Rios said some people who should have been on the stage weren’t.
“I will say I was disappointed that the solar panel company Altus was not there,” he told Demetriou. “There was no representation there. That's where the alleged fire started, and I thought it was very telling that they were nowhere to be found, and I thought that kind of did a disservice to Lineage and our local leaders because they have a lot of answering to do as well.”
Residents who also attended the meeting said there needs to be more hands-on delivery of relief supplies and aid to those living in proximity to the site, and that calls to 211 asking for assistance too often went to voicemail with no positive responses occurring.
Since the fire started on June 17, residents in the area have dealt with a plethora of issues, including smoke, the smell of rotting food, and rats.
Although the exact cause of the fire is still unknown, officials at Lineage said they believe it started on the roof while subcontractors were servicing the solar array.
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