2 Blocks Evacuated After Large Firecracker Explodes
A man detonated a large firecracker inside his South Normandie Avenue apartment Sunday morning, causing an explosion that led to the evacuation of two city blocks, police said.
Neighbors were not hurt, but the man, who was in police custody Sunday, was treated for minor injuries, said Los Angeles police spokesman Trevion Stokes.
The firecracker that exploded at 340 S. Normandie Ave. just before 8 a.m. was “slightly larger than a cherry bomb,” Stokes said.
It severely damaged the man’s fourth floor apartment and caused some damage to the building’s third floor, he said.
The building in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles was quickly evacuated and cordoned off amid a scene of shattered glass and shrieking car alarms.
An LAPD bomb squad canvassed the neighborhood and found no additional explosives, Stokes said.
During the bomb search, nearly 200 people from the 300 and 400 blocks of South Normandie were sent to a temporary shelter at nearby Cahuenga Elementary School, Los Angeles fire officials said.
Stokes said LAPD detectives were uncertain Sunday whether they would pursue charges against the man who detonated the firecracker.
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