Hundreds of burned guns have been found in the ashes of homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades.
Examiners and detectives inside the firearms unit within the LAPD’s forensic science division are working to find serial numbers or other identifying clues so that the rifles, shotguns and handguns can be returned to their legal owners or officially recorded as destroyed.
“You don’t want an unaccounted firearm,” Det. Pat Hoffman, who supervises the department’s gun unit, said, adding the firearms all have to be logged so there is no question about what happened to them in case of an inquiry months or years from now.
“When we recover these firearms, and we’re able to identify them by make, model, characteristic or serial number, they are entered into the (automated firearms) system,” Hoffman said.
He added the heat from the fire was so intense in some places that it burned guns that were stored inside fire-resistant safes.
“It’s an eye-opening experience,” Hoffman described. “When we first got our hands on the first batch of firearms that were recovered, you really, really get a true grasp of just how destructive that fire was and just how bad it was.”
For most of the guns, their wood stocks or handles were burned away while the metal parts appear to be scrap.
As examiners check each gun to make sure there are no live rounds insides, sometimes they have to cut the barrel open, according to Matthew Saucedo, criminalist for the LAPD firearms unit.
“They range from slightly burned to heavily rusted and corroded where the barrels are warping and bending or even completely disintegrating,” Saucedo explained.
While many of the weapons are conventional firearms, others appear to be unique and sometimes irreplaceable. That’s why the LAPD is going to great lengths to try to find the legal owners.
“Getting that piece of property back that might have had sentimental value, might have been a family heirloom. That’s our ultimate goal and objective,” Hoffman explained.
Officials encourage Palisades Fire victims to reach out to LAPD if they lost guns in the fire.
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