Commercial Building Fire In North Hollywood

On Monday, January 17, 2011 at 9:37 PM, 14 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 4 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 Urban Search and Rescue Unit, 1 Hazardous Materials Team, 2 EMS Battalion Captains, 4 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, Department of Water & Power, and Department of Transportation, under the direction of Battalion Chief Timothy Ernst responded to a Greater Alarm Structure Fire at 12500 West Raymer Street in North Hollywood.

Thanks to Battalion 12 Chief Officer Command Team's keen awareness while driving through the North Hollywood area, they observed smoke poring out of a 135' X 50' commercial building. Quickly notifying Operations Control Division (LAFD's 9-1-1 dispatch center), additional firefighters immediately responded.

Routine firefighting operations such as Forcible Entry and Fire Attack rapidly commenced. The bulk of the flames were toward the front of the 6,600 square-foot building doing business as Star Marble & Tile. As Truck Companies ordered "all ladders off the truck", firefighters were able to climb their way to the conventional, gable truss roof and perform vertical ventilation. A small diameter hose line was also utilized atop the roof to extinguish flames.

Shortly thereafter, firefighters inside made their way through dark, smoky conditions and located the seat of the fire which was an automobile fully involved in flames. Although almost 100 firefighters responded, the first arriving 51 were able to fully extinguish the blaze in just 16 minutes, before anyone was injured. Dollar loss from the fire has been estimated at $65,000 ($40,000 structure & $25,000 contents). The suspected cause of this late evening blaze is categorized as "arcing".

Submitted by Erik Scott, Spokesman

Los Angeles Fire Department