An explosion at an apartment complex in Bell Gardens that left one person dead and injured two others, one of them a child, appears to have been caused by homemade explosives and fireworks, authorities said.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department was called at 6:08 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27, to the 6500 block of Purdy Avenue, south of East Gage Avenue, where firefighters encountered heavy flames at the two-story complex following the explosion, a department spokeswoman said.
It took around 60 firefighters one hour to put out the fire, which could be seen from several blocks away.
The second floor appeared to have significant damage, with a large section of the front missing and parts of the roof collapsed.
A boy and a man were taken to a hospital. The child was treated and released and the man remained hospitalized on Wednesday, Jan. 28, in critical condition, according to the Fire Department.
On Wednesday, Jan. 28, personnel from the Los Angeles County Office of Medical Examiner were back at the building, where a victim who had been killed in the explosion and fire was discovered, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
“During their initial investigation and processing of the scene, (investigators) observed materials consistent with homemade explosives and fireworks,” a LASD statement said. “There is no threat to the community.”
Emilio Guerrero, who lives nearby, told reporters he saw “a big ball of fire.”
Several families from the complex were displaced, and the American Red Cross was contacted to assist them with temporary housing, officials said.
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