Illegal fireworks lit up the Los Angeles night sky on July 4, prompting hundreds of complaints to the city police department and in one case lighting a fire that destroyed eight apartments and injured five tenants.
By 10 p.m. Saturday, the Los Angeles Police Department reported receiving more than 1,000 complaints of illegal fireworks filed online, CBS 2 Los Angeles reported.
“Thank you LAPD officers across the city tonight for doing their best to keep up with the scandalous number of illegal fireworks calls,” the LAPD Communications Division tweeted early Sunday. “Take care.”
Fireworks over North Hollywood as seen from Burbank on Saturday July 4, 2020 in Burbank, CA. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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Police said they also had to put dozens of 911 calls on hold due to the large number of calls, CBS 2 reported. Authorities apologized for the delays throughout the night.
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“We ask that you do not call 911 to obtain illegal fireworks unless someone is injured or there is a fire. You’re tying 911 for other life-threatening emergencies, ”said a tweet from the LAPD Communications Division.
Illegal fireworks hit the palm trees causing a fire that spread to an apartment building in Northridge, the station reported.
By the time firefighters extinguished the flames, tenants in eight units no longer had homes.
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“I lost everything, all our memories,” Erika Rivera said to the station in tears. “Pictures, everything.”
