Woman living in storm drain approached by Los Angeles City crews, police, firefighters
LA City reacts to woman living in storm drain
Los Angeles City employees are reaching out to the woman who lives in a storm drain. The encounter comes a day after FOX 11's Matthew Seedorff spoke with her.
LOS ANGELES - Just hours after FOX 11 spoke with a woman who lived inside a storm drain, Los Angeles city employees made their way to the encampment to check on her.
FOX 11’s Matthew Seedorff spoke with the woman hiding in the storm drain on Monday, and on the following day, FOX 11’s Christina Gonzalez checked in on her as city workers tried offering the homeless woman some help.
Gonzalez returned to the location after calls were made to local City Council members and the mayor’s office. Crews from sanitation, street services, the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles City Fire and other agencies responded.
The FOX 11 crews struggled to make out what the woman was telling Gonzalez. The woman did, however, explicitly tell Gonzalez that she would be willing to change her living situation.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: City vows to address people living in underground storm drains
"If I found you a place to stay, would you go?" Gonzalez asked.
"Yep, sure would," the woman said.
Gonzalez spoke with the woman again before crews attempted to coax her out of the storm drain. After some time, the woman emerged, and workers quickly moved to block access to the manhole opening. She eventually left the area.
FOX 11 also spent time with others experiencing homelessness in the area, including people living in tents, RVs, boats and storm drains.
Neighbors, speaking off-camera, told FOX 11 that residents in nearby homes have repeatedly contacted 311, the mayor’s office and the Los Angeles Police Department about the situation.
FOX 11 reached out to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' office and received the following statement in response:
"Mayor Bass today mobilized a response to S. Grand Ave at 55th and 88th.
Both sites are being cleaned and people are being offered resources. This is so tragic, and is emblematic of the tough challenges that Mayor Bass is taking on that were ignored for decades."