Today's Video Headlines: 3/21/2026
Husband and wife Juan Galicia, 55, and Marta Umana, 65, lost their Larchmont home and three of their dogs in the March 8 blaze, which is being investigated by theThe couple said the inferno started after they repeatedly complained to the Los Angeles Police Department about the reckless squatters next door.
The aftermath of a fire in Larchmont, Los Angeles, showing the debris and charred remains of a property where squatters had been living.“We’d always call 911 and say this place is full of squatters and peeping toms. They were cooking meth inside the property,” Sonia Salinas, Umana’s 53-year-old niece, told The California Post, adding that they also reported the squatters were stealing water and power.. She failed our family. She failed thousands of families in the same situation because this happens every day in LA,” Salinas continued. “We’ve seen several homes, businesses, people’s cars that end up being lit up by homeless people. It’s terrible.” Salinas recalled that Bass visited the church where her uncle works as a pastor several months ago to ask the community for help in cleaning up local streets. But “it was not our responsibility — it was her responsibility,” she said. “It’s her duty to keep the city clean. Our church helped clean the city for her. And yet she doesn’t even give us a call back and respond to this matter. It’s really sad,” Salinas added. The couple lost their three dogs: 8-year-old poodle mix Charlie, 3-year-old Chihuahua-mix Firulais, and 10-year-old Husky Chase, who died later at the hospital. They were able to save their other three dogs, all Huskies, from the fire.“I don’t have anything any more,” she said. She said her husband, a pastor and a construction worker, saw “30 years of sacrifice and work” go up in smoke in a matter of moments.Trash lays on the ground of the adjacent property to the Galicia home that caught fire while squatters were living on site in Larchmont.In a statement, Bass’s office said she has been successful in fighting homelessness across the city. “We feel for this family, but it’s Mayor Bass who finally brought homelessness down in LA after years and years of increases before she took office,” it read. “We have a long way to go, and Mayor Bass will keep fighting against the special interests and politicians who want to hit the ‘pause’ button on reducing street homelessness.” The family tried to warn the city about the squatters, who allegedly lit the fire that spread to their home. “The said the squatters don’t have a criminal record so they couldn’t arrest them,” Umana said.The group of up to eight squatters, both men and women in their 30s and 40s, started living in the empty home next to the family a year and a half ago.“They said the squatters weren’t committing any crimes so they couldn’t arrest them and that they were just looking for a place to stay. And they would leave them alone,” she said. “According to the cops, the squatters were doing drugs inside the property so they couldn’t be arrested.” Umana complained that it felt like their efforts were hollow and that “the homeless have more rights than we do.”The burnt remains of the Galicia home after the adjacent property caught fire from squatters in Larchmont on Friday in Los Angeles.The family has launched a GoFundMe to try to recoup some of their losses from the fire. “While pastor Juan was preaching a sermon of hope on Sunday a devastating fire burned his house completely and 3 of the family dogs died,” the fundraiser read. Salinas said that since the fire, the homeless have shown up to the charred house to scavenge through the debris.American tourist detained after being in public during shutdown at holiday hotspot‘Who’s the Boss?’ alum Judith Light reveals her unique and affordable beauty routine Justin Bieber, MGK, Brooks Nader and more spotted at Tom Brady’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic in LA Savannah Guthrie ‘desperately’ pleads to Arizona community to bring ‘renewed attention’ to mom Nancy’s kidnapping case: ‘No detail is too small’The aftermath of a fire in Larchmont, Los Angeles, showing the debris and charred remains of a property where squatters had been living.Trash lays on the ground of the adjacent property to the Galicia home that caught fire while squatters were living on site in Larchmont.Carlin Stiehl for CA Post The burnt remains of the Galicia home after the adjacent property caught fire from squatters in Larchmont on Friday in Los Angeles. Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man’ on Netflix, a Fitting Conclusion to the Stylish Rock ‘n’ Roll Gangster Saga
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