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Some San Fernando Valley residents who were ordered to leave their homes were allowed to slowly return on Saturday morning after a controlled burn operation that resulted from the discovery of illegal fireworks that caused an explosion in the home.
Pacoima’s neighbours shook on Thursday when an explosion of the house in which a 24-year-old man was seriously injured, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. After discovering that there were more illegal explosives at the facility, officials decided to explode the material through controlled burns.
Assistant Chief of LAFD, Geitomlinson said the decision was made to go that route because the house no longer had integrity, as he explained.
“As we saw in the first explosion, the building was collapsed on its own, so it was not safe to actually be in it,” he said. “All the materials stored there were illegal… So, the safest way to deal with it was to start burning the control and burn it completely.”
More than 60 homes were under evacuation orders, annoying community members. On Saturday morning, officials allowed some residents to return to their homes, and they reopened some streets.
The controlled burns are complete, but work for staff on the matter continues.
Many families evacuated from Pacoima’s home on Thursday in preparation for controlled burns of explosives by authorities. Eliana Moreno reports NBC4 News on March 21, 2025 at 11pm.
“The ongoing step is air monitoring and ensuring that the community is still safe,” Tomlinson said. “Since midnight last night, all air sampling has returned to normal range.”
He explained that the burns seen on Saturday morning were controlling the spill from hazardous materials that may have been mixed with water coming from the facility.
“We didn’t water the structure, so there’s no dangerous water in that spill yet,” Tomlinson said. “So, we’re protecting the stormwater drainage system, so we control where that water goes, so there’s no issues from the incident except for additional dangerous materials or issues.”
It is unclear when all residents will be able to return to their homes.
Law enforcement may store homes where explosives are stored for future investigations or possible criminal charges. Police said the man could potentially face criminal charges.
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