Most families still haven’t returned home to LAPD-blast damaged neighborhood

Some residents of the South LosAngeles neighborhood that was heavily damaged when LAPD’s bomb squad detonated a large cache of homemade fireworks in late June have returned home, police said Tuesday.

At least 14 households have been able to go back home to East 27th Street after the city cleared broken glass and other debris inside.

But that leaves 16 who still have not returned nearly a month after the blast rocked the neighborhood, said LAPD Deputy Chief Al Labrada. The Central Bureau interim chief said repairs still needed to be made to the homes closest to the blast site.

“There are still some that are significantly damaged,” Labrada said.

LAPD Chief of Police Michel Moore updated police commissioners at their Tuesday meeting about the city’s progress in restoring the neighborhood.

At least 17 people were injured and numerous buildings were damaged on East 27th Street near San Pedro on June 30 when LAPD’s bomb squad used a containment vessel to blow up hundreds of fireworks found inside a home. But the explosion tore through the vessel, blasting the neighborhood with a shockwave and shrapnel.

Moore said a preliminary investigation showed the bomb technicians miscalculated the amount of explosive material they put inside the vessel — more than twice as much explosives than they estimated, and far beyond the vessel’s capacity.

Several families have already filed claims against the city over the botched explosion.

In the meantime, LAPD said all of the businesses on nearby San Pedro Street that closed after the blast have now reopened. And Moore said the section of 27th Street where the explosion occurred has been reopened to traffic.

Labrada said LAPD officers were patrolling the block 24-7 at the request of residents whose

homes are sitting empty.

Most of the families who have not returned all lived in one large apartment complex on the street that sustained damage.

It was not clear Tuesday whether there was significant structural damage to the building that was preventing residents from going home. LAPD officials said information relayed to them about the damage mostly related to shattered windows and doors.

“What I was told was that some of them just needed door replacements, window frames, stuff like that,” Labrada said. “Those were being ordered — it’s taking time for the contractors to obtain the materials.”

In Tuesday’s commission meeting, Commissioner Dale Bonner questioned the delay.

“These don’t seem like repairs that should be taking that long,” Bonner said.

Regardless, for the families who have not been able to return yet, Councilman Curren Price’s office rented new 29 apartment units nearby where they can stay until their homes are repaired, however long that takes, Labrada said. A spokeswoman for Price’s office did not return a request for comment as of Tuesday afternoon.