Police found a large cache of fireworks inside a South Los Angeles home shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday while serving a search warrant and an arrest warrant tied to a domestic violence incident involving a firearm. The discovery at a residence in the 100 block of East 85th Street, just north of Manchester Avenue, prompted the LAPD bomb squad to rush to the scene and forced immediate evacuations in the surrounding neighborhood.
The evacuation zone covered 85th Street between Main Street and Towne Avenue and one block of 85th just east of Avalon Boulevard. Residents were later allowed back once authorities decided the area was safe. As officers carried boxes from the house to box trucks parked outside, officials said three trucks were filled with fireworks and a fourth truck was arriving shortly after noon. The cache was estimated to be worth between $150,000 and $200,000.
Deputy Chief Marc Reina said the fireworks would eventually be properly disposed of. He also said fireworks are illegal in the city of Los Angeles. ABC7 reported that the fireworks were found in every room of the house, a detail that matched what was happening on the street as officers moved box after box out of the home.
The seizure landed in a city that still remembers what can happen when illegal pyrotechnics go wrong. In July 2024, Los Angeles agreed to pay more than $21 million to settle claims from residents affected by a 2021 fireworks detonation in South Los Angeles. That case began on June 30, 2021, when police found an estimated 32,000 pounds of illegal commercial and homemade fireworks and other explosive materials at a home on East 27th Street.
A federal report later said LAPD bomb squad officers packed nearly 40 pounds of the most volatile homemade fireworks into an armored containment vessel rated for only 33 pounds. The vessel exploded, sending debris onto homes, businesses and vehicles. Ten law enforcement officers and seven residents were injured, 22 homes and 13 businesses were damaged, and 37 cars and trucks were hit. About 80 people were displaced.
This week’s operation was more contained, but the risk was the same. Reina said it would take time to clear the house, and McDonnell said officers took every precaution they could before moving the fireworks. The scene was a reminder that in Los Angeles, a warrant serving as routine police work can still turn into a neighborhood evacuation when what is inside the house is unknown.
