A leaking roof prompted the evacuation today of at least 135 residents from a three-story assisted living apartment building in West Hollywood, authorities said. The building, owned by the Los Angeles County Housing Authority, also was flooded due to rain on July 18, forcing a similar evacuation.
Firefighters and paramedics were dispatched at 4:15 a.m. to 838 West Knoll Dr. in response to reports of flooding, according to a Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher.
Deputies from the sheriff’s West Hollywood station and officials from Metro were called in 5:03 a.m. to assist in the evacuation of the residents and transport them by bus to the West Hollywood Park Auditorium at 647 San Vicente Blvd., said Lt. Edward Ramirez of the sheriff’s West Hollywood station.
It was not the first time deputies were called in to assist in evacuating the building, Ramirez said, adding that deputies provided assistance in a similar situation July 18. Work is being done on the building’s roof and it wasn’t adequately covered in the previous instance, Ramirez said.
Where are the City Council Members and the City’s own non-stop declaration about the need for new low income housing units. FIRST – before building new low income housing units, THE CITY NEEDS TO MAKE SURE THE UPKEEP OF THE EXISTING STOCK IS SAFE AND WILL STAND UP TO WHAT CAN ONLY BE CALLED A LITTLE RAIN STORM (I know, in la, it was a “biblical downpour that was shocking and impossible to believe – but we in LA know – in the real world, that was just some rain – that any house or building is required to be… Read more »
For those who hate the MTA, they responded with buses to evacuate the building within minutes of being notified. Besides providing public transit the MTA is charged with assisting during a emergency. This time it was a flooded building but be it a fire, police ordered evacuation or a earthquake the MTA is there to help. Now lets picture Division 7 is no longer in West Hollywood. The next closest Division is Division 10 on Mission Rd. near L.A. County Hospital. That would have meant the buses not arriving within minutes but at least an hour or more. With the… Read more »
Sean – Great idea ! However, I just got off the phone with WeHo City Hall and, for the moment, everything on West Knoll is under control.
This goes to show the incompetence of the Housing Authority. For those of us who hold vouchers, they screwed us by not listening to WeHo’s rent control rules anymore and some of us got HUGE rent increases, and now we see how they treat the people who live in buildings they own here in the City. My rent situation is still not cleared up with them even though I was told the City Rent Stabilization Department would take care of it since I can’t use Bet Tzedek (the free legal firm). They have done nothing but tell me what the… Read more »
What?!?!? AGAIN?!?! ALREADY?!?! Management has had TWO MONTHS to fix the problem from the last flood in July. And they had PLENTY of warning (five-ish days) that this storm was in the forecast to at least “batten down the hatches” over any as-yet-uncompleted repairs. To echo Jack above, yes: THIS time really does speak of incompetence on the part of both the property manager and whoever the contractor is/was for the last repair. As much as my hat is off to city emergency response personnel, my heart goes out to the poor residents who STILL had not all yet returned… Read more »
so sad.
Incompetence at its best
You’d think after the last disaster, they would have made plans to avoid another. I guess not. I feel very sorry for the residents.
Anyone know how I can volunteer to help? Do they need help with lunches or making beds? I live 2 blocks away and would love to help this great group who always smile and say hi when I walk by.