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L.A. County declares local emergency in Maywood warehouse fire

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Los Angeles County supervisors declared a local emergency Tuesday over last week’s massive fire at a Maywood industrial park, which prompted evacuation of hundreds of people.

The fire erupted at 2:31 a.m. on June 14 at a plastics facility, then spread into a metal recycling yard, triggering explosions as metals and chemicals ignited. It was finally extinguished the following day.

Hilda Solis, the county supervisor representing Maywood, asked for the emergency proclamation, a step that allows the county to seek more state assistance in dealing with the aftermath of the fire. The supervisors also voted to request the governor to declare an emergency.

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Solis noted that preliminary lab results from testing of soil in the area around the fire site “confirm hazardous levels of heavy metal contamination in the fire ash.”

“This emergency will require ongoing assessment and monitoring of the impacted area to ensure the safety of all residents and responders on the scene,” she said.

About 300 residents were evacuated from the area around the blaze, many of them to a Red Cross shelter set up at a local YMCA. Solis said the displaced residents housed at the YMCA had to be relocated again because of the weekend’s heat wave and were placed in motels.

The supervisors agreed to set aside $125,000 to help provide food, shelter and other assistance to displaced residents.

The fire was the latest incident of industrial contamination in Southeast Los Angeles County. The most high-profile example is the now-shuttered Exide battery plant, which resulted in lead contamination at thousands of homes in the surrounding area.

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abby.sewell@latimes.com

Twitter: @sewella

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