Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt blamed Mayor Karen Bass for the warehouse fire in Boyle Heights that began Wednesday and continues burning five days later.
The reality TV star accused Bass of being absent when the fire erupted—drawing a parallel to the deadly Palisades Fire of January 2025 that destroyed his own home.
“KAREN WAS SIPPING COCKTAILS IN CHICAGO WHEN THE BOYLE HEIGHTS FIRE ERUPTED, JUST AS SHE WAS SIPPING COCKTAILS IN GHANA WHEN OUR PALISADES FIRE ERUPTED.”
Pratt warned residents about toxic smoke from the blaze. “That smoke choking out LA is full of lead. Don’t breathe it,” he said in a social media post Sunday.
Karen was sipping cocktails in Chicago when the Boyle Heights Fire erupted, just as she was sipping cocktails in Ghana when our Palisades Fire erupted. I warned you all…what happened to us will happen to all of LA. That smoke choking out LA is full of lead. Don’t breathe it! https://t.co/U0DSMqRhL0pic.twitter.com/HnBLFvl2uj
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) June 21, 2026
The fire broke out Wednesday at a frozen food warehouse in Boyle Heights, east of downtown Los Angeles. Bass issued a local emergency declaration Saturday afternoon, followed by Gov. Gavin Newsom declaring a state of emergency Sunday morning.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore said Sunday the fire should be extinguished by week’s end if progress continues, according to the Los Angeles Times. Officials warned of “very unhealthy” air across wide stretches of LA County as emergency responders cut into steel walls and deployed helicopters to battle the blaze.
Local residents reported burning throats and smoke that smells “like chemicals and plastic.” The fire department said Saturday “the smell of smoke has reached most of the city.”
Pratt claimed the spoiled food posed less danger than the solar panels on the warehouse roof, which he said “are spewing out deadly heavy metals that all of you are breathing in.” He added that the same warehouse had a fire two years ago, and accused Bass—whom he called “Karen Basura”—of slashing the fire department’s budget.
This same warehouse had a solar panel fire 2 years ago. After that, not only did Karen Basura do nothing, but she slashed the LAFD budget and now they can’t stop it, and it’s spewing out heavy metals into the lungs of Boyle Heights folks for a week straight. Nice job, Karen! https://t.co/HHsLZckBaWpic.twitter.com/ZHC8pEt6Xw
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) June 21, 2026
Pratt gained prominence by attacking Bass over the Palisades Fire and deploying AI-generated campaign ads, but he lost to Councilwoman Nithya Raman in a runoff election. Raman will face Bass in the general election on Nov. 3.
