Newly unearthed video shows Kanye West’s Los Angeles church building going up in flames as dozens of firefighters battle to extinguish the blaze, less than two years after he purchased the property.
The wayward rapper, 47, bought the single-story home in LA’s San Fernando Valley for $1.5million in January 2023, from the nearby Cornerstone Christian Church, with plans to turn it into a clothing factory or the site for his controversial school, Donda’s Academy.
But neither plan ever came into fruition and the building had since remained vacant, attracting squatters.
DailyMail.com exclusively obtained video of the fire from eyewitnesses who spoke to firefighters on the scene and indicated it was likely an act of arson by squatters.
‘Officials stated the fire was suspicious in nature, due to three separate fires in the same vicinity within the same hour,’ one source said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department is still investigating the incident and did not provide further comment before publication.
Kanye West’s $1.5million single-story property in LA’s Northridge neighborhood, went up in flames in a suspected arson fire in October 2024, exclusive new video shows
The controversial rapper, 47, had purchased the building in January 2023, but up until the fire broke out, it had remained vacant, attracting homeless people and squatters
While the Yeezy founder had apparently left the place abandoned, DailyMail.com can reveal that at least four of his businesses are still registered at the property
Firefighters were dispatched at 12:45am on October 14 last year, though news of the property burning down and its links to Kanye only came to light last month.
It took 48 firefighters to tackle the blaze in 29 minutes, as they battled to stop it spreading to houses close by.
The LAFD responded to reports of a structure fire at the building and found the apparently vacant building engulfed in heavy smoke and flames.
Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the single structure, but the nearby properties as well as multiple palm trees in the vicinity were damaged, according to local reports and eyewitnesses. There were no reported injuries.
Sources noted that the property was known to attract squatters and had been occupied by homeless people.
While the Yeezy founder had left the place abandoned, DailyMail.com can reveal that at least four of his businesses are still registered at the property.
The LAFD responded to the fire at around 12:45am on October 14. It took 48 firefighters to tackle the blaze in 29 minutes
West had reportedly bought the property with plans to convert the lot into an additional space for Donda Academy, his private Christian school
The building was located on the backside of the nearby Cornerstone Christian Church, which sold it to Kanye (pictured before the blaze)
His companies Yeezy Apparel, Yeezy Footwear, Yeezy Marketing, and Yeezy Record Label are all registered at the address with official records either being signed by Kanye or Australian wife Bianca Censori.
Records seen by DailyMail.com show the building was purchased by Ye’s Blue Spruce Trust on January 30, 2023.
We can also reveal that the property still owes for 2024 property taxes totaling $39,253, plus $358 monthly penalty payments since December.
He’ll be hit with another $9,731 bill for this year on April 10.
Kanye has been no stranger to controversy throughout his career and most recently made headlines over his wildly offensive and unhinged interview with DJ Akademiks during which he wore a black a KKK hood talk and said he regrets having children with ex Kim Kardashian.
In the lead up to the fire, neighbors of the Northridge home had complained about the lot’s dirty, unkempt status, The Sun reported at the time.
Neighbors were particularly outraged by the state of the property West bought, which had boarded-up windows, abandoned shopping carts and trash dumped on the lawn. It’s pictured above prior to falling into disrepair
Photos taken sometime after the blaze show that the house had been completely destroyed, with just the foundation remaining
Kanye had managed to buy the property despite a huge local protest urging the church not to sell it to the scandal-plagued rapper due to his offensive statements and anti-Semitic tirades. He is seen performing at Sunday service at Coachella in Indio, California, in 2019
Locals were particularly outraged by the state of the property, which had boarded-up windows on the main house, while the grounds were littered with abandoned shopping carts and trash that had been dumped surreptitiously.
Photos taken sometime after the blaze show that the house had been completely destroyed, with just the foundation remaining, though much of the building debris and ashes had apparently been carted away already.
Kanye had managed to buy the property despite a huge local protest urging the church not to sell it to the scandal-plagued rapper due to his offensive statements and anti-Semitic tirades.
Over 12,000 people signed a petition launched by a group called Faithful America, which bills itself as ‘the largest online community of grassroots Christians acting for social justice.’
A letter to its pastor Ron Nagin read: ‘As your fellow Christians, we strongly object to the possibility of Cornerstone Church renting space to Ye (Kanye West).
‘There is no room in God’s house for hatred. Allowing Ye’s Donda Academy to operate out of a place of worship would give it and him credibility that at this point they do not deserve.’
DailyMail.com can reveal Ye’s companies Yeezy Apparel, Yeezy Footwear, Yeezy Marketing, and Yeezy Record Label are all registered at the address with official records either being signed by Kanye or Australian wife Bianca Censori (pictured together in 2024)
While one Church insider claimed that there was no way it would ever sell to Kanye after his anti-Semitic rants, they had already flogged him property on its estate, just yards from the main church.
One of his hairbrained ideas was to set up another location for Donda’s Academy there, his ill-fated Christian school which has recently been hit with damning lawsuits regarding the facilities and teaching practices.
However, the academy abruptly shut down in late 2022, leaving parents and students in the lurch.
