Local News in Brief : Mobile Homes for Homeless Set Afire
Two mobile homes for homeless families were burned in an arson fire less than a day after the structures were placed in a Watts housing project under heavy opposition from residents, fire officials said.
Gasoline was spread around the two homes early Tuesday morning at the Hacienda Village housing project and set afire, causing $12,000 damage, Inspector Ed Reed of the Fire Department said. Investigators have no suspects, he said.
The two mobile homes were among 102 such structures bought by the city in June, 1987, for $1.5 million from a Utah power company.
Mayor Tom Bradley issued an angry statement saying such action against the city’s program to house homeless families “will not be tolerated.”
“These temporary residents do not represent a threat in any way to the surrounding neighborhood,” Bradley said.
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