Los Angeles Police Department Finds $200,000 Fireworks Cache in South LA

The los angeles police department evacuated part of South Los Angeles on Wednesday morning after officers found a large cache of fireworks at a home in the 100 block of East 85th Street, just north of Manchester Avenue. The discovery came shortly after 6 a.m. while officers were serving a search warrant and an arrest warrant tied to a domestic violence incident involving a firearm.

Jim McDonnell said officers found fireworks in every room of the house. He said, "They get inside the house, and they see the fireworks -- every room in the house was stacked with fireworks," and added, "So in the case here, we took every precaution we could," as the LAPD bomb squad was called in.

East 85th Street Evacuation

The evacuation zone covered 85th Street between Main Street and Towne Avenue, along with one block of 85th just east of Avalon Boulevard. Residents were allowed to return after authorities determined it was safe, and officers later carried boxes of fireworks from the home to box trucks parked on the street.

By shortly after noon, three trucks were filled with fireworks and a fourth truck was arriving. Marc Reina said, "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," and said, "fireworks are illegal in the city of Los Angeles."

McDonnell and Reina

Officials estimated the seized fireworks were worth between $150,000 and $200,000, and said that figure was expected to increase as the investigation continued. McDonnell said, "You don't know what's in the house next door to you, and it could be something that is very, very dangerous," while Reina said the amount of fireworks required bomb squad response and staged removal.

The seizure also recalled a separate South Los Angeles fireworks case. In July 2024, the city of Los Angeles agreed to pay more than $21 million to settle claims from residents over a 2021 fireworks detonation incident, after 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. That earlier blast injured 10 law enforcement officers and seven residents, damaged 22 homes, 13 businesses, and 37 cars and trucks, and displaced about 80 people.

Jade, a nearby resident, said, "There's fireworks here, across the street and around the corner..."