Authorities including bomb squad personnel were continuing their investigation Tuesday into an explosion at a homeless encampment in the Sepulveda Basin, where a firefighter was critically injured and 10 other firefighters were injured.
Firefighters were sent to the 15700 block of West Burbank Boulevard near the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area around 1:30 p.m. Monday regarding a brush fire in the encampment, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Melissa Kelley.
As crews were making their way into the area an explosion occurred, injuring the firefighter, who was taken by helicopter to Northridge Hospital Medical Center in critical condition with a severed ear. LAFD officials said the firefighter’s injuries were considered serious, but not life-threatening.
Fox11 reported that the firefighter’s ear was re-attached at the hospital.
Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad personnel and members of the LAFD’s Arson Division will be handing the investigation of the explosion.
“Initially we thought it might have been a propane tank,” LAPD Deputy Chief Ruby Flores said, adding that investigators found no evidence of a propane tank.
On Tuesday, the bomb squad personnel continued their efforts, which included “rendering safe” suspicious devices.
“We enacted what we call a search team,” LAFD Capt. Erik Scott told KTLA5. “It’s a group of professional qualified members that are going to comb through every detail. … We’re going to come to the determination of what exactly caused this.”
Crews on the scene halted the spread of the brush fire in about 30 minutes.
“Obviously, the suspicious devices make our operational tactics very challenging,” Scott said. “We don’t want to continue to put boots on the ground if they can have another explosion.”