As Los Angeles sanitation workers spent nearly two days removing over 7 tons of trash from a Fairfax home, more safety and public health hazards were discovered Thursday, linked to the same tenant of the infamous property.
NBC Los Angeles learned a motorhome, a Dodge pickup truck and a yellow car -- all filled with more trash -- were parked a few blocks away from the trash-filled home. And the vehicles are owned by the same tenant.
A woman, who claimed to the tenant's sister, said she used to own the home but gave it to her brother after she was diagnosed with cancer.
"It's deplorable," said Leah Gaon after seeing mountains of trash being dug up by crews.
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'This is an individual that's in crisis.'
Gaon also said her brother, who has autism, needs help.
LAPD officers were seen Thursday morning knocking on the door of the home with a mental health professional to talk to the resident.
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also expressed concern for the homeowner and said she was planning to talk with county officials to provide him with mental health resources.
“We need to take care of this gentleman,” Bass said. “We can't just view this as a situation of an individual that compiled trash. This is an individual that is in crisis.”
'311 sometimes feels like a black hole.'
Although the city government mobilized resources so sanitation crews can finish the cleanup work by the end of the week, neighbors still wondered what took the city so long to act.
"This could have been taken care of years ago," Gary Leli, who lives nearby said.
Neighbors said they asked for the city for help for years, but nothing happened until Mayor Bass showed up Wednesday.
"I just feel that the city does need to do more to step in and protect the majority of the residents in the neighborhood," Lindsay Leli, another neighbor, said.
A Fairfax resident showed us a complaint filed last September. While the city's complaint hotline 311 said the case was closed, trash continued to pile up.
"I think 311 sometimes feels like a black hole," Councilwoman Katy Yaraslovsky whose district includes Fairfax said. "What we want is for people to call 311 and then call their field rep because that flags for us that we need to put pressure on the departments."
Even after the removal of 7.2 tons of trash along with 1,000 pounds of household hazarous waste, cleanup efforts may continue through the week, according to Mayor Bass.
