Shelter-in-place ordered in LA as blaze engulfs roof of 500,000 sq-ft warehouse

The solar panel-covered roof of a 500,000 sq-ft cold storage facility in Los Angeles caught fire Wednesday, sending up thick clouds of dark smoke and ammonia, leading city officials to order nearby residents to shelter in place. About 110 firefighters responded in the afternoon to a blaze at the cold storage and freezing warehouse owned by Lineage in the Boyle Heights neighborhood near downtown, according to spokesperson Jennifer Middleton of the Los Angeles fire department. Both the city and Los Angeles county deployed firefighters and hazmat teams to contain the fire. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Middleton said. By the time firefighters arrived, the solar panels covering the roof had caught fire. “I urge everyone in the impacted area to get indoors immediately, close windows and doors, turn off air conditioning, and avoid unnecessary travel to the area,” Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass wrote in a tweet . Black smoke rises from a warehouse fire in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, as seen from downtown Los Angeles on 17 June. Photograph: Étienne Laurent/AFP/Getty Images Firefighters first tried to stop the fire by spraying it with hand lines on the roof, but were forced to retreat after an ammonia line burst, according to LAFD chief Jaime Moore. “At some point, an ammonia line was compromised and we had a large, pressurized off-gassing of ammonia,” Moore told NBC News 4 . …