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LOS ANGELES, CA - Air quality control officials issued a smoke advisory across the region Tuesday after an explosive warehouse fire in Maywood prompted complaints from all corners of Los Angeles.

The fire at a Maywood warehouse caused about 300 residents to evacuate their homes  and burned for more than 24 hours before it was essentially extinguished Wednesday. Crews, however, continue to work to ensure there were no lingering health risks before allowing those displaced to return.

A hazardous-materials team was sent to the scene, and officials from the South Coast Air Quality Management District were notified. The AQMD later issued a smoke advisory, saying odor from the plume of smoke was prompting complaints across the region.

The three-alarm fire in the 3500 block of Fruitland Avenue ripped through a pair of commercial buildings in Maywood early Tuesday, sparking a series of strong explosions and sending a thick plume of noxious smoke over the region.
Firefighters found flames shooting through the roofs of two structures, one of which was a metal-recycling plant. Crews began pouring water on the flames, but the oxygen from the water created a chemical reaction with the burning magnesium, one of the metals being stored at the facility and awaiting recycling, producing what one fire official described as "fireballs" and setting off strong explosions.
Los Angeles County Fire Department Deputy Chief John Tripp said fire crews realized today that most of the magnesium in the warehouse had burned, allowing crews to again pour water on the remaining fire without fear of more explosions. That essentially allowed them to make 12 hours of progress in two hours.
"The fire is almost at absolute complete extinguishment. As we've stated, our priority is the health of responders and the public," Tripp said at an afternoon news briefing. "Right now we're reevaluating and ensuring that the residue that was in where the houses were poses no health hazard before we can reoccupy.
"... We've got firefighters engaged where we're going to start doing gross decontamination using fire hoses to make sure we get all the residue off the property, contain that, and then make sure that it's safely removed so that we can start maybe getting a time ... of when we can get people back to their homes."
That process of testing residue from the fire in neighborhoods is expected to last into the evening, Tripp said.
Many of the evacuated residents sought shelter at the Maywood YMCA. A sheriff's official said 138 people spent the night at the shelter. About 60 were allowed to enter their homes today to retrieve some needed items.
Dangerous conditions imposed by "tons" of chemicals at the site hampered firefighters' efforts to douse the flames, authorities said. Firefighters were ordered to use breathing apparatus because of the fumes from the magnesium and a number of other substances at the business, officials said.
The fire was reported about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday in a warehouse that serves Gemini Plastic Enterprises, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said that in addition to magnesium, other metals such as coppers, zinc and lead were present at the metal-recycling plant, along with chemicals and propane. "We had some very violent, ferocious explosions in the facility," Osby said.
Crews quickly went into a defensive mode, fighting the fire from the exterior, and were able to prevent the blaze from spreading from the two commercial structures that were destroyed to other businesses and nearby homes.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department sent deputies from several sheriff's stations to the site, and traffic was routed away from the area.
"The majority of the evacuations were mandatory (and) other residents voluntarily evacuated to safety," according to the sheriff's department.
Citing court records, the Los Angeles Times reported today that Da Xiong Pan, the owner of the recycling facility, was recently charged with multiple felonies for improperly storing and disposing hazardous materials at the site.
Pan, who owns Panda International Trading Co., at 3570 Fruitland Ave., pleaded not guilty to five felony charges last month, according to The Times.

City News Service; Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County Fire Department