Hollywood residents tell 7 On Your Side Investigates city isn’t stopping homeless fires at vacant property

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A group of Hollywood residents says they are frustrated, angry, and terrified over fires in their neighborhood, so they’re turning to 7 On Your Side Investigates. They say fires keep sparking at a vacant building, and they want the building better secured.

Just last week, 7 On Your Side Investigates reported on the surge of homeless fires that are keeping firefighters very busy. Los Angeles Fire Department data shows that every day in L.A., there’s an average of 35 fires connected to a person experiencing homelessness. And behind that stat, there are some Angelenos who are growing very angry.

“We never know when it’s going to be the day that it’s going to light our roof on fire,” said Hollywood resident Jeanne Rice.

Rice lives on North Wilton Place and says the property next door, where there is a vacant building, is fueling her fear of fires. That’s because two weeks ago, a sizable fire sparked on the property, and a detached garage on the lot started to burn.

“It is terrifying,” Rice said. “You could actually feel the heat in the windows, and I thought the windows were going to combust .”

Rice’s neighbor, Devora Lillian, is livid, too.

“It was so intense that my face was burning on the porch,” Lilian said.

The fire that sparked on the property on April 17 is not an isolated incident. LAFD records obtained by 7 On Your Side Investigates show this was the sixth fire on the property since August 2024.

The most recent fire caused a neighboring senior living facility to be evacuated.

“The smoke was so thick people were coughing,” said Elisabeth Maier, who lives in the senior facility.

The vacant may be labeled with an “unsafe” sign from the city, but neighbors say it’s a hub of activity. They say they even see people living in the rundown home.

“It’s a village. There’s a village that lives here,” Lillian told ABC7.

Even though a brand-new fence is up around the property, the 7 On Your Side team noticed there’s already a hole in the fence. So if anyone wanted to slip into the property, it wouldn’t be too hard.

The owner of the property would not talk to 7 On Your Side Investigates on camera, but he told us over the phone that he’s frustrated, too, that chains and boards aren’t keeping people out.

He says he has wanted to demolish the vacant building, but blamed what he called “bottlenecks” with getting a demo permit from the city.

The L.A. Department of Building and Safety says the demo application is still “under review,” but tells us it did issue an abate order on the property and is working with the owner to try and bring the site into compliance.

Wanting action now, Rice says she has been pushing her District 13 councilmember’s office for help.

“Which hasn’t really been responsive,” Rice said.

“We’re doing everything allowed under the law… to hold the owner accountable,” Spokesperson Nick Barnes Batista with Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez’s Office told Eyewitness News. “Our office is coordinating with the Department of Building and Safety to begin the formal process of declaring this property as a public nuisance.”

Neighbors in the area think it’s too little, too late.

“Shame on you. Shame on the city,” Lillian said.

“You would think with all of the things that have been going on at this property over the last year that it would have been declared a public nuisance a long time ago,” Rice said. “This is destroying good neighborhoods.”

If a board made up of building and safety commissioners declares the property a nuisance, the city can put a lien on the property and secure it instead of the owner doing it. District 13 says this case should go in front of the board in May.

The building department has yet to give an answer as to why it’s taking so long for the city to finish reviewing the demo permit.

LAFD says firefighters were not able to determine the cause of the latest fire on the property. Their fire report mentions resident complaints of someone living on the property and setting fires; however, that person was not spotted by firefighters.