CBS News investigation finds lack of law enforcement action despite thousands of fireworks-related calls across Los Angeles

A CBS News California Investigation found data from the Los Angeles Fire Department showing that hundreds of fires were ignited by illegal fireworks across Los Angeles in 2025, as well as the lack of action taken by law enforcement when they were called for the dangerous pyrotechnics. 

In July, just a day before Independence Day, six homes were burned, and one person died when an explosive fireworks-related fire erupted in a Pacoima neighborhood. 

Neighbors say they had made multiple calls to local law enforcement over the years, reporting the home where the fire broke out, claiming that they used to sell fireworks from the garage. 

"Everyone knows," said Gabriel Soza, who lives nearby and witnessed the destructive inferno in July. "They always called the police every year, and they never come."

Just four months earlier, and less than two miles away, another Pacoima home was also destroyed when a cache of illegal fireworks exploded. In that instance, one person was hospitalized in critical condition with burns to more than 50% of their body, police said. 

Residents in that neighborhood said that they had called on police to report the home as early as three years before it exploded. 

"I must've called at least five to 20 to 30 times — I lost count," said Luis Medrano, who lives near where the fire took place. "They didn't care."

Documents obtained by CBS News California Investigates show that the LAPD received more than 90 different 911 calls about fireworks at the home on Remington Avenue. Neighbors say the lack of response from police until after the fire happened shows they weren't a priority, despite claims that their neighborhood was of utmost importance during a news conference the day of the explosion. 

"I was pissed off," Medrano said. "They never responded."

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell says that more often than not, the fireworks have already stopped by the time officers respond to calls. However, he also admitted that the department's response to fireworks-related calls is a long-standing problem. 

"You get fireworks calls all the time. ... A lot of the calls don't get dispatched, they put out for information only because of the sheer volume of calls," McDonnell said. 

LAPD's own numbers show the volume of calls is in the hundreds year over year, while CBS News' investigative analysis of fire data shows that those calls resulted in 226 fires across Los Angeles in 2025, with hundreds of other fires in previous years as well, dating back to at least 2020. 

During that five-year span, during which there were 722 fireworks-related fires and nearly 3,500 emergency calls, the LAPD issued citations or made arrests only 12 times. 

When asked to comment on the data, McDonnell admitted that fireworks calls aren't high-priority for the LAPD. 

He says that under his command, that's something that must change, especially after his own officers are now falling victim. Newly obtained and exclusive body camera video shows fireworks being launched directly at LAPD officers in the midst of an immigration rally in downtown Los Angeles. Other footage shows the demonstrators using fireworks to booby-trap a barricade. 

McDonnell says it's an issue that has gotten out of hand, resulting in dozens of injuries to LAPD officers. 

"Anything from ear to eye injuries," he said. "Twenty-six officers being put out of action because of fireworks being shot at them."

Riverside police say that this is one of the reasons that they launched their fireworks drone program last year, aimed at spotting fireworks from the sky and saving officers from being sent on the ground. The drones record the illegal activities and pinpoint them to a certain property, where the citation is sent. 

"It's safer for everybody," said Riverside Police Department Officer Victor Schmitz. 

In their first year, Riverside police issued 65 citations through their drone program, five times as many as the LAPD has written in the last five years. 

McDonnell said that the LAPD is now testing its own drone program, but at the same time, they're also trying to hire officers since they're down approximately 1,400 from where they should be. 

"I would love it to be a higher priority. If we had more officers, it would be a high priority," McDonnell said. 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass recently submitted a funding proposal to the City Council seeking $4.4 million to hire more officers, but the $1 million approved budget fell well short of that goal. McDonnell says the new hires are necessary, especially with high-profile events like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games heading to L.A. in the coming years.