Residents of the three-story building were evacuated today after rain seeped through the roof, which has been under repair at least since July, and into apartments. Firefighters and paramedics were dispatched at 4:15 a.m. this morning tin response to reports of flooding, according to a Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher. A similar incident occurred on July 19, and most residents have been back in their apartments only briefly.
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.
Elissa Vasquez, public information officer for the Housing Authority, confirmed that the residents of the 135-unit building had been moved from the park auditorium and were safe. Vasquez said she doesn’t currently have information on when sufficient repairs will be done to the building to allow its residents to return.
On both occasions the Housing Authority Staff and Management were notified by residents of the potential of flooding and on both occasions there was a calloused dismissal of concerns. Someone should be fired and each resident should be made whole without hesitation.
I passed,by there on Thursday and noticed a large portable generator outside the building with several cables from it running along the side of the building. Edison must have cut power to the building which indicates to me there is a much larger problem than just a leaking roof.
It appeared to me that there is an issue much larger than just the roof leaking. From what I observed during the day every fire truck from West Hollywood plus others from LACFD plus mutual aid from Beverly Hills and L.A. City responded. At about 1:30PM one LACFD truck was still there and firemen were exiting the building shaking their heads. Perhaps this leak caused major structural damage.
After the first disaster, it was obvious to anyone that the roof WAS the problem. The Housing Authority should be held accountable. I hope there is a very good lawyer who will sue the Los Angeles County Housing Authority on behalf of all the tenants and do it pro-bono ! Oh, yes, one or more LACHA employees should be fired.
This is a devastating situation. It all has begun with a project of installing the solar panels. This project was not substantiated and it was also not publicly discussed. Once the first emergency situation occurred on July 18, 2015, residents were resettled for almost two months. In the course of renovating works, it is believed that building was under the rigorous inspections. This inspection, however, missed the main cause of the disaster, the undone and unfinished roof. Whether or the roof was inspected by the officials of West Hollywood and County remains unknown. Who is responsible for the ill-thought solar… Read more »
Why were the residents returned to the building before it the repair was completed? It’s very traumatic to be evacuated in the middle of the night just once; it’s awful that this happened a second time.