Criminal charges filed in Boyd Street fire

The owner and operators of four buildings and three businesses face over 300 criminal charges for alleged fire code and safety violations following a large fire and explosion that occurred in the Toy District of downtown Los Angeles in May that left 12 firefighters injured, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced.

LOS ANGELES - The owner and operators of four buildings and three businesses face over 300 criminal charges for alleged fire code and safety violations following a large fire and explosion that occurred in the Toy District of downtown Los Angeles in May that left 12 firefighters injured, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Friday.

The city attorney’s office is filing the charges after inspections conducted by the Los Angeles Fire Department, LAFD’s Arson Unit, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Department of Building and Safety.

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"The Boyd Street Fire was a devastating incident that could have easily turned into an epic tragedy for the LAFD," said LAFD Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas. "Thanks to the work of our arson investigators, the Fire Prevention Bureau, the LAPD and the City Attorney’s Office, we are one step closer to holding accountable the individuals who may have contributed to the circumstances that precipitated this fire and, hopefully, be able to prevent similar incidents in the future."

Investigators believe the fire started at 327 East Boyd Street, home where businesses Smoke Totes, Green Buddha and Bio Hazard operated. The building is owned by Steve Sungho Lee, officials said.

For this building, Lee faces charges that include conspiracy to endanger the public health for reasons that include failure to identify aerosols, failure to maintain aisles failure to have hazmat warnings, failure to have no smoking signs, and failure to obtain a facility permit.

According to investigators, the fire then spread to 325 East Boyd St., a building also owned by Lee, where Green Buddha and Bio Hazard also conduct business operations.

Lee faces a combined 86 counts of violations for the two buildings.

In the investigation, authorities also found Smoke Totes operated at two additional locations in the downtown area.

Lee faces 46 additional counts for violations at 309 South San Pedro St., and 3 counts at 5719 South Avalon.

The city attorney’s office said Lee’s buildings allegedly had illegal storage of hazardous materials, and include violations that break state and city fire codes.