Residents in a West Hollywood neighborhood are demanding answers and action from city officials after a massive fire on Thanksgiving Night destroyed a vacant home that’s been the subject of repeated complaints about squatters and trespassers.  

The dilapidated and vacant home on North Sierra Bonita Avenue, which is surrounded by apartment buildings, erupted in flames on Nov. 23 jarring neighbors from gatherings with their loved ones.  

Fortunately, fire officials said no one was injured during the blaze, and while the fire has sent shockwaves through the nearby community, some of the residents tell KTLA that the property was a public safety hazard waiting to happen and that’s why they’re fuming.  

At a West Hollywood City Council meeting on Monday, many residents were speaking their minds.  

“The landlord did not secure his property,” one speaker said.  

“I wish that WeHoans who ask the city for help could actually get it,” another told the council.  

Neighbors say they’ve been complaining about trespassing, suspicious activity, garbage and debris piling up at the vacant house for more than a year, even telling city leaders they feared a fire could break out. 

Just weeks later, that’s what happened.  

“It’s literally like we’ve been held hostage by this one developer that has several properties in the area that are not being taken care of, they’re not being developed,” Stefanie LaHart told KTLA’s Chris Wolfe.  

LaHart, who started a website chronicling the vacant property before, during and after the fire, said the Thanksgiving Night blaze damaged a nearby apartment building, displacing two people who live next door, adding that she’s thankful the disaster wasn’t worse.  

“We’ve been calling for help and begging for help and nobody’s doing anything,” LaHart explained.  

City leaders said they are doing something and listening to residents. One councilmember wants to review the history of complaints and the ensuing government response.  

Others want to be quickly informed of all the enforcement tools and authority at their disposal.  

“The city installed and is paying directly for 24-hour security with our Block-by-Block Ambassadors to be out there,” West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem John Erickson told KTLA. “We’re also reassessing all of our vacant properties.”  

Officials added that they are working with both neighbors of these types of properties and the landlords. 

The city council plans to reinstate a “problem properties task force,” combining public safety, public information and code enforcement personnel. There was also discussion about the ability to declare vacant property a “public nuisance” and place a lien on it, among other measures.  

In the meantime, the vacant property on North Sierra Bonita, sometimes referred to by neighbors as the “hell house,” has been red tagged and should be demolished soon.  

Family and friends gathered for an emotional vigil Monday night in L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood to remember a 17-year-old boy who was shot and killed Saturday night.  

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the original call regarding an assault with a deadly weapon with shots fired came in around 7:10 p.m. in the 200 block of North Lake Street across from Lake Street Primary School.   

The 17-year-old victim, identified by family as Gabriel Quintas, suffered at least one gunshot wound to the chest, police said, and he was quickly transported to a local hospital in critical condition.   

He died due to his injuries on Sunday, law enforcement officials confirmed. 

“My son, he had a beautiful spirit. He was very special, he was very unique,” the teen’s mother, Marisel Rams told KTLA at the vigil. “He was kindhearted. He wanted everybody to be in a good mood and whoever killed him, they didn’t know that. They didn’t know him. They took my boy from me. I don’t even know what else to say.”  

The victim’s father spoke out after the incident, asking somebody to come forward to help his son get justice. 

“The people that did this, they know Gabriel and Gabriel’s friends, they all know each other,” Angelo Quintas told KTLA. “Somebody knows something. Find it in your heart to help give Gabriel some justice because he doesn’t deserve this. He was a good person, a kind person and he doesn’t deserve to just be murdered.” 

A GoFundMe has been organized to help raise funds for Gabriel’s burial.  

So far, police have not released any suspect descriptions.  

Los Angeles Metro trains will be arriving more frequently to accommodate increased demand as the transit service continues to rebound toward pre-pandemic ridership numbers.

Beginning Dec. 10, Metro will be increasing train frequencies along the A, C, E and K lines, reducing the time between trains by several minutes.

On the A and E lines, trains will be taking off every eight minutes, two minutes faster than previous, during weekday peak hours. On weekends, between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., trains will arrive every 10 minutes instead of 12.

Another new change coming on the A and E lines that has been a frequent request of riders — later trains.

Metro announced that two additional trains will be added at the end of the night, extending service on the A and E lines by 40 minutes every night. The later trains will be a welcome change for ridgers departing from Long Beach, Azusa and Santa Monica, Metro officials said, with late departures taking place after 11:30 p.m.

In addition to the A and E Lines getting improved frequency, the C Line will also have reduced wait times for trains. Train frequency has been slashed from every 15 minutes to every 10 minutes on the C Line during midday weekdays and between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekends.

The K Line will see waits drop from 12 minutes to 10 minutes during midday hours on weekdays. Weekend service, however, will operate every 20 minutes due to ongoing construction of the LAX/Metro station and testing work to connect the C and K lines.

The decision to offer increased train frequencies and later service is a result of rider feedback, Metro said, particularly with rebounding ridership numbers and the opening of three new train stations that provide easier access in downtown Los Angeles.

The Metro Regional Connector opened in June, bringing with it better downtown service and reducing the need to transfer for many riders.

In October, Metro hit an important milestone, topping more than 950,000 average weekday riders, making October its busiest month since the pandemic began. Metro officials say it’s the second-straight month that milestone has been surpassed.

In October 2019, Metro saw more than 33 million riders on bus and rail. This October, that number reached more than 24 million — a far cry from pre-pandemic totals, but continuing along a trend of a consistent bounce-back.

“Our ridership on weekdays is 79% of Oct 2019. On weekends we’re at 92% of Oct 2019 ridership,” Metro officials said on X, previously Twitter. “We think the gains are result of restoring more bus & train service, increased focus on public safety, programs to make riding affordable & more folks out-and-about.”

Bus ridership continues to make up the bulk of Metro’s service, accounting for nearly four-times the amount of riders utilizing train.

Metro will also updating the schedules for 37 weekday, 29 Saturday and 24 Sunday buses, which it says is necessary to “improve reliability, and route and stop changes to various bus lines to improve service for riders.”

To see a complete list of bus route schedule changes, click here.