Midnight Fire Burns Through Auto Body Shop

On Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 0:47 AM, 15 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 6 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 2 Urban Search and Rescue Units, 2 Hazardous Materials Teams, 2 EMS Battalion Captains, 5 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 2 Division Chief Officer Command Teams, under the direction of Assistant Chief Robert Franco responded to a Greater Alarm Structure Fire at 5029 W Jefferson Bl in Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw area.

Shortly after midnight Los Angeles Firefighters quickly arrived to find a one-story L-shaped commercial Auto Body Shop building well involved with fire. Fire Entry Teams had to make forcible entry on two sides of the before attempting to locate the origin of the flames. Firefighters laddered the roof of a 75’x200’ section of the building and commenced strategic vertical ventilation.


A division wall separated the unoccupied building into two sections. LAFD personnel aggressively attacked the flames, using Large hand lines and class A foam to confine the fire before it spread to any adjacent buildings. Additional resources were rapidly requested, in the event the blaze would spread.

One portion of the structure was 30’X70’ and had 25’ flames shooting through the roof and the other section was 75’x200’,with less fire involvement. Two spray-booths and several expensive automobiles inside the structure were damaged.

It is unknown if the structure had sprinklers or fire alarms. 119 firefighters were able to extinguish this blaze in just 46 minutes. No injuries were reported.

Thanks to the diligent firefighting and salvage efforts of the Los Angeles Firefighters the dollar loss was limited to $250,000 ($100,000 structure & $150,000 contents). The cause is under investigation.


Submitted by Erik Scott
Los Angeles Fire Department