South El Monte residents were ordered to shelter in place Wednesday afternoon as more than 100 firefighters worked to battle a massive fire at a warehouse complex that sent a dark plume of smoke into the air and emitted a pungent chemical odor.
Fire crews responded to the 2200 block of North Tyler Avenue at 2:32 p.m., where two adjacent concrete warehouse-style buildings were on fire, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Keith Navarre.
A total of 112 firefighters were sent to the scene, where they assumed a defensive position, surrounding the building with water spray devices, he said.
Several explosions occurred inside the building while crews were on scene, the cause of which was not immediately clear, he said. Helicopter video from ABC7 captured sparks and smoke shooting into the air as the explosions shook buildings.
Hazardous materials and urban search and rescue teams also went to the scene, he said. Authorities said metal was burning inside the warehouses, but did not specify what type of objects were on fire.
“It's going to be an all-night incident because of the materials involved,” Navarra said. “We have heavy equipment here that will help us take down the building and continue putting out the fires.”
A shelter-in-place order was issued for residents in the immediate South El Monte area around 4:40 p.m. and was later expanded to include more nearby streets and part of Baldwin Hills. An updated map of the areas affected by the order is available at protected.genasys.com.
Residents were ordered to close doors and windows, turn off heating and ventilation systems and stay indoors. By 6 p.m. the smoke had decreased, but the orders remained in place “as a precaution,” Navarre said.
Investigators have not determined what caused the fire.
