Warehouse fire caused ‘putrid’ smell in California | Top stories

For a week after the fire, residents of communities along the waterway had no information about the source of the odor, according to the lawsuit. Local authorities have speculated on the cause of the fire. In early October, Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes of Carson said the gas was coming from a “leaky pipeline”.

Monique Alvarez, 40, a plaintiff in the trial who saw a “30-second jog” from the channel, said in an interview on Sunday that “no one was really helping” or “providing tangible resources.”

“We didn’t really have answers at the time,” Ms. Alvarez said, adding that her three children had had marks and woke up struggling to breathe.

“One day living in this environment seemed like an eternity to me,” she said.

A week after the fire, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department said it found “very low levels of hydrogen sulfide” in the air. Two days later, the department said the odors were “pervasive enough” and urged residents to get air filters, close their windows and doors, and keep their pets indoors.

At one point, members of about 3,400 households were staying in hotel rooms paid for by Los Angeles County, said Kerjon Lee, a spokesman for the Department of Public Works, adding that the county had also provided 40 000 air purifiers.

The efforts and emergency work to quell the smell of the canal cost the county $ 54 million last week, Lee said.

The warehouse is owned by Liberty Properties Limited Partnership and its parent company, Prologis Inc., according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Two other companies, Virgin Scent and Day to Day Imports, were stocking wellness and beauty products there at the time of the fire, the Air Quality District said.