On Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 0:22 AM, 18 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 7 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 2 Arson Units, 1 Urban Search and Rescue Unit, 1 Hazardous Materials Team, 1 EMS Battalion Captain, 6 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, 1 Rehab Air Tender, 1 Emergency Air and 137 total firefighters, all under the direction of Assistant Chief Daryl Arbuthnott, responded to a Major Emergency Structure Fire at 1238 East Olympic Boulevard in the Wholesale District.


 
Firefighters arrived to find a row of one-story commercial buildings covering 8,722 square-feet with heavy fire showing from two units. Worker's outside of the non-occupied business flagged down Firefighters and assisted access, eliminating the need of forcible entry. Additional resources were quickly called and large hose streams were deployed to attain maximum water-flow on this blaze.

The contents of this fire were highly combustible as the occupancy was a party-supplies company dealing largely in pinatas and other paper decorations. Firefighters were quickly forced into a defensive attack due to intense flames compromising the integrity of the structure, resulting in a full collapse of the roof other than the arch-trusses.

Complete extinguishment of the 90 year-old sprinklered building was obtained in one hour and 26 minutes, before anyone was injured. The cause of this early morning blaze was contributed to sparks from workers repairing rolling steel doors. The dollar loss is still being tabulated.

Submitted by Erik Scott & Matt Spence, Spokesmen
Los Angeles Fire Department

READ MORE - LA Firefighters Battle Blaze in Downtown Wholesale District

On Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 1:25 AM, 14 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 7 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 Arson Unit, 2 Urban Search and Rescue Units, 1 Hazardous Materials Team, 3 EMS Battalion Captains, 4 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, 1 Emergency Air, 1 Emergency Lighting, 1 Rehab Utility, 1 Rehab Air Tender, DWP and LAPD all under the direction of Assistant Chief Daryl Arbuthnott responded to a Greater Alarm Structure Fire at 1171 East 10th Street in the Wholesale District of downtown Los Angeles.

Firefighters arrived to find a large outside fire exposing the rear of two buildings, a tall warehouse connected by a division wall to a one-story building separated into an approximate half dozen, 50' x 100' individual stores containing party supplies.

Firefighters made forcible entry with rotary saws through multiple rolling steel doors into the warehouse to allow fire attack teams inside the unoccupied structure. Simultaneously, their colleagues swiftly took to the conventional bridge truss roof to perform vertical ventilation. Firefighters utilized heavy hose streams and ladder pipe operations to pour large amounts of water in the open lots where additional products were intensely burning, however the fire attack remained offensive. Flames also damaged one section of power lines, pole to pole, causing them to fall.

The first arriving 110 firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze in one hour and eight minutes before any civilians were injured. One Firefighter assigned to a Truck Company suffered back injury and was transported to a local hospital in fair condition.

The total dollar loss is estimated at $195,000 ($120,000 property and $75,000 contents). The cause of the early morning blaze remains under active investigation.

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Submitted by Erik Scott, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department

READ MORE - Blaze Injures 1 Firefighter & Damages Structures Downtown

On Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 9:58 AM, 6 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 2 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 Arson Unit, 1 EMS Battalion Captain, 1 Battalion Chief Officer Command Team, under the direction of Battalion Chief Antoine McKnight responded to a Structure Fire at 622 South Wall Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

Firefighters arrived within three minutes to a three-story modern apartment building with fire in one unit on the first floor. While attacking the flames, an unconscious 62 year-old male was discovered on the floor of his small Studio Apartment. He sustained 2nd and 3rd degree burns to approximately 50% of his body, in addition to a severe respiratory injury. In critical condition, he was treated by LAFD Paramedics, who transported him to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center. Sadly, after the patient arrived at the hospital, he died as a result of his injuries.

It took Firefighters just nine minutes to extinguish the blaze, but not before it caused $45,000 ($40,000 structure & $5,000 contents) loss to the approximate 150 square-foot residence. Firefighters determined smoke alarms were present in the home. There were no obvious physical factors impairing egress, and the 29 year-old residence was not equipped with fire sprinklers. The fire was determined to be the result of the occupant smoking while utilizing oxygen therapy via a nasal cannula.

Submitted by Erik Scott, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department

READ MORE - Downtown Apartment Fire Claims One Life

On Friday, October 1, 2010 at 5:46 PM, 11 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 2 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 Arson Unit, 1 Hazardous Materials Team, 1 EMS Battalion Captain, 2 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, under the direction of Battalion Chief Greg Gibson responded to a Greater Alarm Structure Fire at 219 West 7th Street in the Fashion District of downtown L.A.

Firefighters responded to an Automatic Alarm at a 12-story High-Rise building and within two minutes it was modified to a Structure Fire. As Companies arrived on scene, there were reports of smoke alarms activated and water flowing from sprinklers. Firefighters rapidly made their way through the light smoke on the third floor and performed a drop-bag operation to obtain hose-lines. A small fire on an outside balcony was quickly extinguished in just 18 minutes. There was minimal content damage, but extensive de-watering was required. Additional Firefighters performed a detailed search on all floors of the 87,000 sq-foot building to ensure no one was in need of rescuing. There were no injuries nor was anyone displaced. Thanks to the diligent firefighting and salvage efforts of the 71 Los Angeles Firefighters, the estimated dollar loss was limited to only $3,000 ($1,000 structure and $2,000 contents). The cause of the fire in this 95 year-old building is under active investigation, but does not appear to be arson at this time.

Submitted by Erik Scott, Spokesman

Los Angeles Fire Department

READ MORE - Quick Knock-Down of High-Rise Fire in Fashion District