The discovery was made shortly after 6 a.m. as a search warrant and an arrest warrant were being served at a residence in the 100 block of East 85th Street, just north of Manchester Avenue, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
The warrant was related to a domestic violence incident involving a firearm, according to the LAPD.
"They get inside the house and they see the fireworks -- every room in the house was stacked with fireworks," LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell told ABC7 in a previously scheduled interview. "You don't know what's in the house next door to you, and it could be something that is very, very dangerous.
"So in the case here, we took every precaution we could," the chief said. "They ended up making sure that it was stable to move."
The LAPD bomb squad was summoned to the scene, and immediate evacuations were ordered in the area surrounding the home, an LAPD spokesperson said. The evacuation zone included 85th Street between Main Street and Towne Avenue, along with one block of 85th just east of Avalon Boulevard.
Video from AIR7 showed officers carrying boxes of fireworks from the home to box trucks parked on the street. Three trucks were filled with fireworks and a fourth was arriving at the scene shortly after noon.
"So it's going to take a little while to get all the fireworks out, but eventually we'll have that and they'll be properly disposed of," LAPD Deputy Chief Marc Reina said at a news conference outside the home. Reina issued a reminder that fireworks are illegal in the city of Los Angeles.
In July 2024, the city of Los Angeles agreed to pay more than $21 million to settle claims by residents of another South L.A. neighborhood where police bungled the detonation of a cache of illegal fireworks in 2021, injuring 17 people and displacing dozens of others.
LAPD Chief McDonnell describes investigation that led to fireworks seizure
Police found an estimated 32,000 pounds of illegal commercial and homemade fireworks and other explosive materials at a home on East 27th Street on June 30, 2021.
The LAPD bomb squad packed nearly 40 pounds of the most volatile and dangerous homemade fireworks into an armored containment vessel that was rated for only 33 pounds, according to a federal report.
The fireworks were supposed to be detonated safely at the scene because they were too unstable to move, but the vessel exploded and debris rained down on scores of homes, businesses and vehicles.
The explosion injured 10 law enforcement officers and seven residents, and damaged 22 homes, 13 businesses and 37 cars and trucks. About 80 people were displaced.
Damage exceeded $1 million and the city has spent millions more on repairs, housing and other relief for residents of the working-class neighborhood.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.