The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday approved a settlement of nearly $21 million for South Los Angeles residents whose homes were destroyed in a botched firework detonation by the Los Angeles Police Department in 2021.
The settlement is expected to be distributed to 19 people, with the highest single check to an individual being $2.8 million, according to city records.
On June 30, 2021, the LAPD bomb squad overloaded a containment vessel to destroy illegal fireworks confiscated on 27th Street near San Pedro Street. But the detonation rattled the neighborhood, destroying over 20 homes and injuring at least 17 people.
The explosion has also displaced 80 people and upended their lives.
The victims have been residing at the Level Hotel in downtown LA since the explosion while waiting for their homes to be repaired or looking for new affordable places to live. The city has been covering their living expenses.
“They’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said Ron Gochez of Union Del Barrio, a community group that has been representing the explosion victims. “It’s really unfortunate and really shameful that the city has forced these people to wait for three years to resolve this situation.”
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The city council also approved an amendment authored by councilmember Curren Price, who represents the area, to extend the hotel stays for the victims until the end of February of next year.
The victims had said earlier this week that they were on the verge of homelessness as the contact the city had signed with the hotel expired last Friday. Some residents reported their hotel keys have stopped working, and one resident was told to vacate the room by hotel security.
“I’m a senior citizen and unemployed. I don’t have money to pay rent. Where am I supposed to live? Karen Bass promised us that the city would not evict us,” resident Geraldyne Hairston said.
