Illegal fireworks could land on your roof and set your house on fire as July 4 approaches – NBC Los Angeles

Lately, almost every weekend, groups of young people set off dozens of illegal fireworks on a quiet street next to the Harbor Gateway neighborhood of Los Angeles, and one of the mortars landed on the roof of 'a house on the corner of Denver Avenue and 158th Street.

“A resident lost a room due to illegal fireworks,” said Dave Matthews, director of the Harbor Gateway Chamber of Commerce. “This is a problem in this area that we know is going to get even worse.”

Residents of the Brentwood section of Los Angeles tell the I-Team that a group of teenagers sets off illegal fireworks every week in the dog park at Veterans' Barrington Park.

“This has been going on for almost a year,” said a Brentwood resident who asked that we not use her name. “We filed a police report, councilor. No one did anything.”

Across the Los Angeles area, NBC4 viewers tell the I-Team they are hearing more and more illegal fireworks outside their homes in the months leading up to Independence Day. So we obtained and analyzed data from the Los Angeles Fire Department for the previous two months. until July 4 for the past three years.

The I-Team found that there were approximately 100 fires caused by illegal fireworks in Los Angeles in June and July alone during 2021, 2022 and 2023.

“We could have a massive explosion here from illegal fireworks going off every weekend,” Matthews said.

This worries Harbor Gateway neighbors, as well as businesses on the street where the crimes are taking place.

“We've had mortar shells hit our property,” said Jacob, sales manager for fertilizer company Grow More, just yards from where the fireworks are being set off.

“We have a lot of chemicals here that could ignite. Ethanol, acetic acid, potassium nitrate. These products have high flammability rates,” Jacob told the I-Team .

“If this fertilizer plant grows, it's going to destroy everything else in this area,” Matthews told the I-Team.

Businesses and residents have been urged by community advocates to call the sheriff's department when they see or hear the illegal fireworks.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told the I-Team, “Since June 1, deputy personnel have conducted [at least] 7 patrol checks in the area… No arrests or summonses were noted.”

The department has said on at least two recent occasions that “the disruptive groups left before their [the department’s] arrival.”

Some businesses threatened by illegal fireworks believe the state needs tougher penalties to discourage people from setting off illegal fireworks.

“Since it’s only a misdemeanor and a fine, criminals don’t really have an incentive not to do it,” said Grow More’s Jacob.

The I-Team reached out to Councilman Tim McOsker and Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, since the Harbor Gateway area falls under their jurisdiction, to see what they plan to do about illegal fireworks .

McOsker's office said in a statement: “LAPD asks the public to report problem locations to the AskLAPD non-emergency hotline” and said there would be increased deployment to respond to fireworks calls , especially during the days leading up to and just after July 4th. “

Mitchell said in a statement: “My office will continue to work closely with our local sheriff's offices to address this issue in areas where it is a more widespread problem, such as East Gardena…I encourage our residents of East Gardena to report the use of fireworks. directly to our Compton station dispatcher.