Los Angeles, Ca
Fire burns through apartment building in Koreatown, leaving families displaced
Families are left without a home after a massive fire burned through an apartment building in L.A.’s Koreatown.
The fire occurred on Sept. 26 at a building on the 750 block of South Normandie Avenue in the early morning hours.
When firefighters arrived, smoke was billowing from the roof and the flames destroyed multiple apartment units, leaving families displaced and without a place to sleep.
“There are six units total that have suffered severe damage,” said Celeste Kessler with the Los Angeles Tenants Union. “What really blows my mind is that the L.A. Housing Department has declared this a habitable unit.”
Inside Maria Vargas’ apartment, the fire burned through her kitchen, bathroom, personal belongings and several walls, leaving the unit unsafe and uninhabitable. The ceiling was burned through where water can be seen leaking and a clear view into her neighbor’s apartment is visible.
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A fire burned through an apartment building in Koreatown in Los Angeles on September 26, 2024. (Citizen) -
Maria Vargas’ apartment was destroyed by the fire that burned through her kitchen, bathroom, surrounding walls and personal belongings. (KTLA) -
The fire left families displaced after burning through several apartment units and leaving them uninhabitable. (KTLA) -
The fire left families displaced after burning through several apartment units and leaving them uninhabitable. (KTLA) -
The fire left families displaced after burning through several apartment units and leaving them uninhabitable. (KTLA) -
The fire destroyed a shared wall that left a clear view into a neighbor’s apartment. (KTLA) -
The building was yellow-tagged by officials but tenants say the affected apartment units are dangerous and uninhabitable. (KTLA) -
The fire left families displaced after burning through several apartment units and leaving them uninhabitable. (KTLA) -
A fire burned through an apartment building in Koreatown in Los Angeles on September 26, 2024. (Citizen)
Vargas said she’s frustrated over the lack of ability to do basic things like cook or bathe in her home while also worrying about taking care of her three children.
“I’m not doing very well,” Vargas told KTLA’s John Fenoglio through a Spanish translator. “I’m very worried. We need help to leave this apartment. We can’t stay here.”
Many of the displaced residents don’t have anywhere else to go.
“We spent the night in our car,” said Margarita Linares, a mother of two children whose apartment was also destroyed.
Frustrated tenants told KTLA they’ve tried contacting the building’s manager but he reportedly wouldn’t answer their questions or even speak with them until the following Monday.
“TDI Properties, the owner of this building, has been pretty negligent, I would say, in terms of responding to this fire,” Kessler said. “They have not been speaking with tenants. Tenants went to their office and they refused to open the door so the tenants are grasping at straws to find a place to go where they can live with their children and TDI is just ignoring them.”
Displaced residents are left scrambling and had asked for assistance with temporary housing but said they’ve been completely ignored.
“I can’t believe that this is the reaction I’m getting,” Linares said. “I always pay my rent on time and now that I need something from them, I can’t believe this is the reaction.”
“Council District 10 was on the scene, but so far they have not offered any recourse,” Kessler said. “They talked about hotel vouchers for tenants but at the end of the day, they told us they were out of them. So they truly haven’t been much help, either.”
“There should not be a circumstance where individuals are displaced due to a fire and they are unable to find housing in the short term,” an attorney, Ryan Kerns, explained of the situation. “If the landlord’s negligence was the cause of the fire, then the landlord is responsible for relocating costs and finding replacement apartments. If the landlord can find replacement apartments in the same unit that are of the same value as the apartments the tenants were already having, that can potentially constitute the replacement value of that property.”
On Saturday night, a spokesperson from Council District 10 told KTLA they are working on finding interim housing for the displaced tenants.
A GoFundMe page organized by the Los Angeles Tenants Union to help the affected tenants can be found here.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
KTLA has reached out to TDI Properties for a statement but has not heard back.
Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
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