Residents of a South Los Angeles neighborhood are on edge due to a series of fires that investigators say may be intentionally set. Mekahlo Medina reports Sept. 5, 2023.
Residents of a South Los Angeles neighborhood are on edge due to a series of alley fires that investigators suspect are being intentionally set.
The fires have been burning in a trash-filled alley close to homes near 73rd Street and Central Avenue for months. Neighbors say they’ve received little help from city officials.
“They neglect this area like it doesn’t even exist,” said Dai’Quiriya Martinez, who has recorded videos of fire after fire. At times, she’s had to hose down her house, hoping it doesn’t go up in flames.
Martinez is not only fearful of the fires but also frustrated with the city, saying she’s alerted Councilman Curren Price, as well as the mayor’s office, dozens of times with little response.
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She said the city has occasionally cleaned up the alley, but not as frequently as is needed to remove all the trash dumped there. She said the fires have been more frequent since unhoused people moved in.
“People bring trash from elsewhere. They come and toss it there,” said Reyna Sanchez, who owns a store next to the alley. She added that people not only toss trash in the alley but also on Florence Avenue, right in front of her business.
The adjacent alley is clear and clean. Martinez thinks the businesses there are taking care of the cleanup, but the other alley has businesses that have been vacant for years.
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Martinez believes the city should pick up the slack.
“I can’t sleep at night. I can’t study. I feel that they’re neglecting our neighborhood,” she said.
Price’s office said the situation is on their radar and that they have contacted the sanitation department to get the issue resolved as early as Wednesday.
The councilman’s office added that dumping is a problem everywhere in the area, and that every time trash is cleaned up, it just accumulates again. They also said they’d work with neighbors to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
