LOS ANGELES - Mayor Karen Bass of the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday declared a local emergency in response to an ongoing warehouse fire that erupted Wednesday and generated heavy smoke, which has spread across the Los Angeles metropolitan area for several days.

A fire at a massive warehouse has blackened the skies near downtown Los Angeles, prompting a shelter-in-place order for nearby residents due to the risk of hazardous air

“The smell of smoke has reached most of the city,” the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement as efforts to extinguish the blaze continued.