May 16--With temperatures soaring above 100 degrees and wildfires breaking out across the Southland, Monterey Park police and fire officials have seized an estimated 25 tons of fireworks from a warehouse in an industrial area of the city, authorities announced Thursday.
Officials received an anonymous tip last week about a warehouse in the 900 block of Monterey Pass Road, said Battalion Chief Randy Harper. They found enough boxes of fireworks to fill seven tractor trailers, Harper said.
It was a fireworks stash so large that seizing it was a logistical challenge. In the last week, officials have scrambled to find safe places to store the fireworks during the investigation.
"We're just not set up to confiscate this much product," Harper said.
The boxes were stamped with the words "Made in China." Authorities believe that the fireworks may have been imported and intended for sale.
A joint task force of police and fire officials are still investigating what building, fire, and health and safety codes were broken, Harper said. Many of the fireworks seized were larger, more dangerous products that cannot be sold year-round, Harper said. The building may not have been approved for the storage of fireworks either, Harper added.
Police have not made any arrests and are still trying to contact the building owner.
Recent property tax records show that the warehouse was owned by a company called Top Luxor Trading Corp. State business records show that a company by that name with the same address as the warehouse is associated with a person named Jun Ming Chen.
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