A fresh fire at a vacant building on Hope Street in downtown Los Angeles has intensified concerns over public safety, despite efforts by the city to seal off properties that residents say have become magnets for trespassers and repeated blazes.
The latest incident occurred beside a building whose owner began demolishing it last week after a series of fires. Residents said another neighbouring property caught fire on the same night, before the demolition work had been completed.
“This is unacceptable,” Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.
The city’s Department of Building and Safety has ordered the owner of 1235 Hope Street to clear the site and install barricades following a fire there, according to the mayor’s office. Officials said they were also working with residents, businesses, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Fire Department to improve security.
Measures under consideration or already under way include installing cameras, requiring private security and altering the fronts of buildings to prevent people from getting inside.
Residents, however, say unauthorised entry has continued despite metal barriers and a police surveillance tower being installed. Jeremy Lara, who lives nearby, said people had been entering the properties to sleep or search for scrap metal.
“It was a pain in the butt to walk Charlie, or for me and my girl to walk outside,” he said, referring to his dog.
Official fire department records show the area has experienced several serious incidents. On 10 May, firefighters tackled a major blaze at 1225 South Hope Street, where flames broke through the roof of a vacant commercial building. About 124 firefighters attended, one was injured and the cause remained under investigation. A further fire at a previously damaged vacant building at 1224 South Hope Street on 10 July involved about 71 firefighters; its cause was listed as undetermined. ([lafd.org](https://lafd.org/news/major-emergency-structure-fire-downtown-los-angeles-one-firefighter-injured?utm_source=openai))
Death reported on Hope Street
The latest concerns were compounded by the discovery of a dead man in the 1200 block of Hope Street on Sunday morning, 18 October. Police said officers from the Central Division responded at about 10.36am and requested assistance from the fire department.
Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene. The Los Angeles Police Department recorded the case as a natural-death investigation and said there was no confirmed link between the death and the fires.
A nearby resident, Jenishia Jones, said she saw a body being removed from portable toilets in the area. Her account has not been independently confirmed.
The fire department is leading the investigation into the blazes, while police have referred questions about their causes to fire officials.
Jens Midthun, president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, said abandoned buildings were creating problems beyond Hope Street, including in the Fashion District.
Residents have been pressing for a faster enforcement process to allow dangerous sites to be declared public nuisances and secured more decisively. Midthun said at least three properties on the block had already received that designation.
The mayor’s office said work with city agencies and property owners would continue, but residents said stronger action was needed to keep people out of the buildings and reduce the risk of another fire.
