Two Years Later, LA Has Spent $9.5 Million On The Fireworks Explosion Set Off By Police — And Residents Remain Displaced

Two years and roughly $9.5 million later, more than a dozen families remain displaced after a botched LAPD fireworks detonation that also injured 17 people.

Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday to outline how the city has spent about $9.5 million since the 2021 detonation  in the 700 block of East 27th Street that initially displaced around 80 people and destroyed property in a predominantly Latinx South Los Angeles neighborhood.

In the breakdown shared by Mejia, around $5 million in taxpayer dollars went toward the relocation of displaced residents; around $2 million to liability claims; $1.55 million to clean up and repairs; $1.3 million toward the containment vehicle and $44,000 for city labor. The figures do not include how much the city has spent on the police department in the aftermath.

The LAPD has kept the names and the discipline imposed on officers involved secret.

Displaced residents and organizing efforts

Cindy Reyes’ family home of over 30 years was damaged in the explosion. She has since been staying at a hotel in downtown L.A. with her two children, aged 9 and 6.

She said the ordeal has been a “nightmare," adding that she's still awaiting funds to repair the damage to her home, but doesn't know who to contact or what to do.

“The city does not really tell us anything. It's just up in the air,” Reyes said.

Ron Gochez is with Unión del Barrio, an organization that has been helping the displaced residents organize protests, marches and community forums to raise awareness about their plight.

The city, he said, hired an external company to find housing units for those who were renting, yet more than two years later, some are still waiting. The displaced renters have also had trouble finding affordable units with rents going up in Los Angeles in the last few years.

“People who used to live on 27th Street in South Central L.A. were paying maybe $700, maybe $1,000 of rent for a one bedroom apartment,” he said. “Now, if they look for another one-bedroom apartment, they can't find anything under $2,000, $2,400 etc. So that is at no fault of the residents that were affected, it's the fault of the city, of the police department.”

Gochez said residents requested that Mayor Karen Bass set aside some of the city’s affordable housing units for those displaced by the explosion.

“People are still in the same exact situation that they were more than two years ago and so nothing has been resolved, but taxpayer money is just going down the toilet,” he said.

Mayor Bass' statement

In a statement, Bass’ communications team said, "The Mayor is working with Councilman Curren Price and City Departments to do what they can to make these families whole in the wake of this tragic incident that occurred more than 2 years ago.”

The meeting with the displaced residents “continued that effort,” the statement added.

LAist also reached out to the office of Councilmember Curren Price, whose district the explosion occurred in, but have not heard back.