CA: Cache of fireworks prompts buildings to be evacuated

LADN: SYLMAR >> A large cache of illegal fireworks was discovered in Sylmar Sunday afternoon, prompting a gas station and motel to be evacuated and the Los Angeles Police Department’s Bomb Squad to respond to the scene, Los Angeles police said.

The evacuation took place in the area of Encinitas Avenue and Roxford Street in Sylmar “out of an abundance of caution,” said Sgt. Daryoush Sameyah of LAPD’s Mission Division. The incident was reported shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday, the day before America’s Independence Day when professional fireworks shows traditionally light up the sky.

Los Angeles Fire Department officials said in a statement that they were assisting LAPD due to a “vehicle containing a large quantity of illegal fireworks.”

LAPD’s Bomb Squad was on scene trying to determine whether the fireworks would be disposed of at the scene or whether they were stable enough to take to an alternate location, Sameyah said. Sameyah described the amount of fireworks as “probably a truck load.”  more here