Evacuations ordered after police find large fireworks cache at South LA home; bomb squad on scene

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Evacuation orders were issued Wednesday morning after police found a large cache of fireworks at a home in South Los Angeles, authorities said.

The discovery was made sometime after 6:30 a.m. as a search warrant was being served at a residence in the 100 block of East 85th Street, just north of Manchester Avenue, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said.

The LAPD bomb squad was summoned to the scene, and immediate evacuations were ordered in the area surrounding the home, the spokesperson said, without specifying the boundaries of the evacuation zone.

Details about the investigation that prompted the search warrant were not available.

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.

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.