Arson investigators are sifting through the ashes of a two-story industrial building to find the cause of the blaze that burned parts of nearby buildings in Downtown Los Angeles.
It took more than 100 Los Angeles firefighters on Monday to douse the early-morning fire that ignited in the graffiti-covered building at 1338 South Flower Street in South Park, City News Service reported. It was snuffed out in an hour and 37 minutes.
The property appears to have been a two-story industrial building in front, backed by a 13,000-square-foot brick-and-timber warehouse, according to Loopnet and Google Maps.
The blaze was reported at 1:43 a.m. in the building between Venice and Pico boulevards, a couple of blocks east of the Los Angeles Convention Center and not far from Crypto.com Arena and L.A. Live, according to Margaret Stewart, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Firefighters arrived and found flames erupting from two parts of the building, she said. Video showed flames through the roof, which the fire department said had been the site of a fire in November.
Crews found heavy fire in the one-story portion at the back and were able to knock the bulk of the fire down in about 15 minutes.
“However, the situation escalated as flames rapidly spread into the adjacent one-story commercial building,” Stewart said. “Approximately 20 minutes into the incident, smoke and fire were visible in a separate, one-story commercial building two doors to the south.”
The scores of firefighters managed to douse the blaze by 3:20 a.m. No injuries were reported. It’s not clear whether the building had been occupied.
“They fought the heavy fire for over an hour and successfully defended two exposed buildings — an auto body shop and four-story apartment building to the rear,” Stewart said. “Occupants of the apartment building were able to safely shelter in place, and no evacuation was required.”
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