Los Angeles Local Government

A CBS News California investigation, using Los Angeles Fire Department and LAPD data, finds that from 2020 to 2025 nearly 3,500 fireworks-related emergency calls and 722 fires — including 226 fires in 2025, multiple destroyed homes and at least one death in Pacoima — resulted in only 12 citations or arrests citywide. Neighbors in Pacoima say they repeatedly warned police for years about specific homes later destroyed by explosions, while LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell admits fireworks calls are treated as low priority and that many aren’t even dispatched, even as newly released body‑camera footage shows fireworks used as weapons against officers and 26 officers sidelined by fireworks injuries. The report contrasts LAPD’s record with Riverside’s drone‑based enforcement program, which issued 65 citations in its first year by documenting fireworks violations from the air.