Abandoned South LA Church Burns for a Third Time; Mayor Seeks $2 Million to Clean Up Dangerous Properties
Los Angeles is a city in Los Angeles County, California. An abandoned church in South Los Angeles burned for a third time in the early hours of October 12. The former Crouch Memorial Church of God in Christ, a two-story wooden building dating to 1905 at East 27th and Paloma streets, was reported on fire shortly after 3:30 a.m.; about 180 firefighters took more than an hour and a half to knock down the blaze. No one was injured. The building has been red-tagged, crews have begun removing unstable debris, and the Fire Department has opened an arson investigation. The church previously burned in 2013 and again in 2024.
Neighbors say they have complained to the city about the property for more than 13 years, citing squatters, illegal dumping and small fires, without results. Mayor Karen Bass's office said in a statement that the city has taken legal action against the property owner and will work with the Department of Building and Safety to clean up the site this week. Bass has also asked the City Council to allocate $2 million to clean and secure priority dangerous properties across the city, including this one; the funding motion is scheduled to be heard this week in the Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图为本次起火的克劳奇纪念教堂本体（2011 年摄）。Cbl62 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，维基共享资源
