Editorial: South L.A. residents shouldn't suffer because of the LAPD's fireworks screw-up (via latimesopinion)
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that something went terribly wrong on June 30, when the Los Angeles Police Department decided to detonate illegal fireworks in the middle of a South L.A. neighborhood, and ended up destroying the bomb squad’s armored truck and injuring 17 people.by LAPD personnel. Bomb squad technicians had grossly miscalculated the weight of devices put into a containment vehicle for safe detonation.
When officers detonated the fireworks, the force of the explosion was so strong that the containment vehicle collapsed and the 500-pound lid of the detonation chamber shot into a yard a couple of blocks away. Residents said they were thrown by the power of the blast. It blew off doors and broke windows in homes, cars and businesses, leaving shards of glass everywhere. Three properties may have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Technicians estimated the weight of the fireworks rather than using a scale to measure them. The LAPD had hours to prepare for the detonation. Yet many residents in the area said they weren’t informed of the risk or they were told they could stay inside their homes rather than evacuate. Even as the investigation continues, L.A. leaders have an obligation to provide immediate assistance so impacted residents can repair or replace their property, and begin to heal from the trauma of the explosion. This is not the time to put struggling families through the usual bureaucratic claims and insurance process.
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