In Los Angeles on February 6, 2026, a Los Angeles jury returned a verdict in favor of twenty-four residents of Carson, California, who were exposed to toxic hydrogen gas for several months in the fall of 2021. The residents ended up getting sickened by the “rotten egg” smell of the gas, which is known to cause headaches, nausea, and breathing problems. The defendants denied responsibility for causing the odor, asserted that it was an unforeseeable result of their conduct, and stated that the plaintiff was not injured.
The gas formed following a massive hand sanitizer fire at the Prologis Warehouse in Carson, California. The sanitizer was stockpiled outside the warehouse by the warehouse tenants, Day to Day Imports, Inc., and Virgin Scent, both owned by the Nourollah family of Beverly Hills, California, for more than six months. In which the sanitizer was piled high on pallets, sometimes 10 to 15 feet high, over approximately two acres of yard outside the warehouse property throughout the hot summer months.
In which numerous citations were issued by fire department officials prior to the fire. Trial began in November 2025 of the Los Angeles Superior Court in front of Judge David S. Cunningham III, and lasted 50 days, with the 24 members of the Carson Community serving as the first set of Trial Plaintiffs from a case-wide population of more than 13,000 plaintiffs.
The case still remains pending with 13,750 plaintiffs awaiting their day in court. If all plantiff’s recieved the same allocation, the total amount would exceed one billion dollars.
“The suffering of the Carson community was denied and downplayed for far too long. This month’s long trial exposed Defendants’ brazen and reckless creation of one of the largest environmental disasters in the history of Los Angeles. The verdict could not have happened without the hard work of our trial team, the Court, the jury, and all counsel, and is a small step toward safer handling of flammable chemicals,” said Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy Partner, Kelly W. Weil.
The Jury found the Landlord Defendants, Prologis and Liberty, to be 7% responsible.
