The fire erupted after midnight under a Los Angeles freeway where 16 people were living, including a pregnant woman who was only weeks from giving birth. As the flames engulfed the storage yard and the inferno's heat melted some of the thoroughfare's steel guardrails and concrete pillars, rescue crews were able to get everyone out safely. But the disaster has brought renewed criticism of officials' inability to get homeless residents off the street.
Bass has warned repeatedly against assumptions that homeless residents started the blaze, but that hasn't stopped speculation and blame. Late Wednesday, an attorney for Apex Development Inc., the company that leased the property, said the company had complained to city officials numerous times about fires started by homeless people on or near the property.
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