A home on 27th Street in South L.A. a year after a botched detonation of fireworks blew out windows in many homes.If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily morning newsletter, How To LA. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news.The city of Los Angeles has reached a $21 million settlement with families displaced by a botched Los Angeles Police Department fireworks detonation in 2021.
Councilmember Curren Price, whose district includes the site of the explosion, acknowledged the “pain and trauma” of the families, saying “this incident should never have happened and was entirely preventable, and we’re still reeling from it all these years later.”Maria Velasquez’s home was damaged by the blast and was forced to leave along with her mother, father and teenage daughter.
Velasquez’s parents were close to retirement when the explosion happened. Her parents own three homes damaged in the explosion, one of which Velasquez rented from her parents. The homes were paid off and her father was ready to enjoy his retirement, splitting his time between Mexico and California. Instead, she said, they were all stuck in a hotel room.