An explosion ripped through a multi-story apartment building in the 14500 block of Hartland Street in Van Nuys shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday, sending three people to the hospital in unknown condition and scattering debris across the ground floor. Firefighters said the blast was tied to a worker who was in a bathroom at the scene, though the exact cause remained unclear.
The explosion struck the building west of Van Nuys Boulevard, according to ABC7 Los Angeles, which reported that fire officials hospitalized three people whose conditions were not immediately known. The Los Angeles Fire Department said the incident was caused by a worker in a bathroom at the scene, though additional details about the cause were not immediately available.
Other employees at the location were evacuated following the blast, per the same report. Air7 footage showed debris strewn across the ground floor where the explosion apparently occurred, underscoring the force of the blast even as the full scope of damage to the structure remained unclear.
Multiple Agencies Respond to Hartland Street
LAFD hazardous-materials and urban-search-and-rescue teams were dispatched to the building, the station's report noted. Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety officials were also summoned to the scene.
A Pattern of Blasts Around Van Nuys
Thursday's explosion is the latest in a string of blasts that have rattled the Van Nuys area over the past couple of years, though each has involved different circumstances and outcomes. In March 2024, an explosion damaged a Van Nuys apartment building in the 7300 block of Woodman Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Times. That blast was confined to a single unit whose two adult and one child occupants were not home at the time, and no one was injured; forty-six firefighters responded while the cause was investigated.
More recently, a lithium-ion battery exploded in a third-floor apartment of a four-story building at 14142 Vanowen St. in Van Nuys, shattering windows, as reported by Daily News. That explosion, reported at 1:48 p.m. on a Saturday, caused no injuries, and LAFD hazmat units were sent to assist with overhaul and monitor air quality, though officials said they did not know why the battery exploded.
A separate incident in September 2026 injured four people in a possible welding-related explosion at a construction site at 14265 W. Van Nuys Blvd. in nearby Arleta, according to the Los Angeles Times. LAFD transported three of the injured to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while a fourth declined transportation, and it remained unclear whether those hurt were construction workers or passersby. That blast was strong enough to shatter first- and second-floor windows of a nearby apartment building, and its cause stayed under investigation as a gas company, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation all responded.
As for Thursday's explosion on Hartland Street, no further information on the cause, the condition of the three hospitalized people, or the extent of damage to the building had been released as of this report.
