L.A. Approves Up to $5,000 a Month for Boyle Heights Businesses Hurt by the Lineage Fire

The City Council approved $5 million, the first half of a $10.5 million recovery package, including up to $5,000 a month for six months for qualifying small businesses.

By Herald Staff · Oct. 30, 2026, 2:30 PM ET

A row of small, colorfully painted neighborhood shops in Boyle Heights at golden hour, including a bakery with glowing windows, a market with fruit crates under a striped awning and a mural-covered wall, with a large windowless warehouse and the downtown Los Angeles skyline in the hazy distance. — The city estimates about 1,133 small businesses in Boyle Heights were hurt by the June 17 Lineage warehouse fire and its months-long cleanup.

More than four months after a fire at a Lineage cold-storage warehouse filled Boyle Heights with smoke and, later, the stench of rotting food, Los Angeles is putting money directly into the hands of the neighborhood's small businesses. The City Council on Wednesday approved a $5 million transfer, the first half of a $10.5 million recovery package from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, that will pay qualifying businesses up to $5,000 a month for six months.

The money comes from the city's unappropriated balance and goes to the Community Investment Department, which will run the aid program, and to L.A. Sanitation, LAist and Boyle Heights Beat reported. No date has been set for applications to open.

Who Gets What

According to Jurado's office, as laid out by CBS News Los Angeles, the first phase sets aside $2.5 million in financial awards for more than 100 Boyle Heights businesses. Businesses with fewer than six employees would receive $2,500 a month for six months, and those with six or more would receive $5,000 a month. City residents who worked at the Lineage facility and are facing hardship because of the fire would be eligible for $2,000 a month for six months.

Another $1.8 million is earmarked for affected households, and $664,460 will pay for supplies and overtime for pressure washing, bulky-item pickup and illegal-dumping responses in Boyle Heights through June 30, 2027. A second phase would add $5.5 million in Measure A funding through the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, which Jurado's office says would give affected households a $9,000 stipend each.

"Working families and local businesses in Boyle Heights have spent months living with the consequences of this fire. They deserve a recovery effort that addresses the financial strain they shouldered as well as the cleanup," Jurado said, according to CBS.

An Estimated 1,133 Businesses Hurt

The fire broke out June 17 at the Lineage warehouse at 1400 S. Los Palos St., according to an Oct. 23 report from the Community Investment Department to the mayor and council. Spoiled food left by the blaze took more than two months to clear as the company missed several city deadlines, bringing heavy odors and rodents to the area, CBS reported. Lineage has said the cleanup cost more than $100 million.

The department's report shows how wide the economic damage spread. Partner organizations surveyed about 300 brick-and-mortar businesses in the area, and based on preliminary data the department estimates that about 1,133 small businesses in Boyle Heights were hurt. That count leaves out chains, franchises, fast-food restaurants, banks, schools, churches, nonprofits and government offices. The report also counts 120 Lineage employees at the Boyle Heights facility.

Businesses would have to show they lost money because of the fire. The report lists qualifying hardships including staff shortages, closures, reduced foot traffic and hours, lost revenue, spoiled inventory, canceled orders, supply-chain disruption, and cleanup and repair costs. If demand outstrips the money, the department may prioritize applicants by number of employees and annual revenue.

The money would not reach every business that was hurt. The department estimated that its proposed business budget of about $1.9 million would cover about 101 businesses for the full six months, assuming three in four have five or fewer employees. It proposed $228,000 for Lineage workers, enough for up to 19 people, with any unused worker money shifted to businesses.

Eligible areas differ slightly between documents. Jurado's office lists ZIP codes 90033, 90032 and 90063, while the department's proposed criteria name 90023, 90033 and 90063, so business owners should check the final rules when the application opens.

Debit Cards and Local Partners

Aid would be loaded onto prepaid debit cards through the city's contract with U.S. Bank. Under the emergency the council declared Oct. 2, the department asked to hire three partners without competitive bidding: the tech platform FORWARD to run the online application portal for $141,500, New Economics for Women, which operates the East LA/Boyle Heights BusinessSource Center, to help businesses apply for $110,000, and Managed Career Solutions to assist displaced Lineage workers for $30,000.

For residents, the strain has gone beyond lost sales. Some told Boyle Heights Beat they faced huge utility bills from running air purifiers and air conditioning all summer, and that help from Lineage, the city and the county right after the fire fell short.

"The emergency is still ongoing, and it won't end until the city can fulfill the long-term commitment we made with them to set a new bar for the level of care that the Eastside deserves," Jurado told the council Wednesday, according to LAist.

Mayor Karen Bass, praising Jurado at a news conference Wednesday, said, "When a community faces a crisis, the responsibility of government doesn't end when the emergency is over. That is when the longer, harder work begins."

It is still unclear when applications will open, how fast grants will go out and how many businesses and households will be chosen, LAist reported.

Original reporting by The Los Angeles Herald, drawing on the Los Angeles Community Investment Department, the office of Councilmember Ysabel Jurado and the news outlets linked above.