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South LA residents still without homes after 2021 LAPD fireworks explosion
As many as nine families were displaced in the South LA explosion, and many have not been able to return to their homes nearly 21 months after the incident. Now, several families are accusing LA City Council of threatening to kick
LOS ANGELES - Several families who were displaced after a Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad detonated a cache of illegal fireworks, damaging over 30 properties in South LAs are speaking out, accusing the LA City Council of threatening to kick them out of their hotel rooms without any real work done to fix the damage.
The explosion happened nearly two years ago, in June 2021, on 27th and San Pedro streets in South LA's Historic South-Central neighborhood, after the LAPD had confiscated thousands of pounds of illegal fireworks from a nearby home. An LAPD bomb squad decided to detonate the entire cache despite multiple warnings from an explosives expert who urged the team to break the cache up before detonation. The resultant explosion sent 17 residents and first responders to the hospital, destroyed the bomb squad truck and damaged more than 30 properties, and nearly 40 vehicles in the immediate area.
As many as nine families were displaced in the blast, and many have not been able to return to their homes nearly 21 months after the explosion. Some of the displaced families have been staying at the Level Hotel in Downtown LA, with the city footing the bill.
"Trust us, we wish we didn't have to be here," said community leader Ron Gochez, speaking on behalf of the impacted residents.
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Victims of South LA fireworks blast still displaced two years later
The victims of the LAPD fireworks explosion have once again been threatened by the city of Los Angeles with displacement.
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Displaced families tour damaged homes 2 years after LAPD fireworks blast
Several families are still displaced and living in hotels two years after LAPD accidently set off a cache of fireworks on a residential street in South LA. Now they say the city wants them to foot the bill.
Now the families say the city has told them they'll stop paying the bill by the end of June of this year, while "90% of their homes remain unrepaired and uninhabitable," according to lawyers representing the displaced families.
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Lawyers also alleged that "the only home on the block that was ‘fully repaired'" suffered water damage after weeks of heavy rain across Southern California, and that Overland Pacific and Cutler, the company the city contracted to find housing for these families hasn't found any.
Gochez accused the company contracted by the city to help find the displaced families housing of not getting the job done.
"Not one single apartment has been found by this company who's being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do this work," Gochez said. "The ones that have found an apartment find it on their own. So I think that's really that's our tax dollars going basically to waste."
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South LA community demands accountability in wake of explosion that displaced families
The South Los Angeles community is demanding accountability from the city after LAPD was responsible for the 2021 fireworks explosion that displaced families in the area.
According to the city of LA's housing department back in October, 14 properties have been repaired. Earlier this month, the City Council approved nearly $2.3 million in funding to continue assisting the displaced families.
City News Service contributed to this report.