Los Angeles Firefighters arrived swiftly to find heavy fire in the attic of a six-story 58 unit center-hallway apartment building.
Dozens of residents, protected in the fire's incipient stage by building features compliant with the Ponet Square and Dorothy Mae Ordinances of the Los Angeles Fire Code, were able to exit safely as firefighters extended handlines through windows and up several flights of stairs to keep flames at bay.
One resident complained briefly of difficulty breathing, but declined treatment or transportation following his medical assessment by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics.
Firefighters rescued or oversaw the safe 'shelter in place' protection of many dogs and cats in several pet-populated apartments. The flames were confined to the common attic and roof of the building of fire origin, and extinguished in just 62 minutes.
No other injuries were reported.
Despite LAFD holding direct fire damage above living areas in the 83 year-old Versailles Apartments building, the entire structure was deemed untenable pending repair of fire damage and restoration of utilities.
As many as thirty residents were referred to the American Red Cross for temporary assistance, which included emergency shelter with adjacent pet accommodations provided by the City of Los Angeles Department of Animal Services.
Loss from the blaze has been estimated at $1.2 million ($900,000 structure & $300,000 contents), a figure greatly lessened during the firefight by swift property protection and diligent salvage efforts by teams of Los Angeles Firefighters, who spent nearly ten hours at the scene.
Acting with knowledge that a small non-injury blaze - extinguished by fire sprinklers, had been intentionally set 28 hours earlier in an adjacent and co-owned building at 608 South St Andrews Place, a cadre of Investigators from the Los Angeles Fire Department's Arson/Counter-Terrorism Section were joined by an Investigator from the U.S. Department of Justice (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) in a comprehensive investigation that included use of an accelerant detecting canine.
Following the team's thorough on-site analysis, the cause of Friday morning's attic fire was confidently declared accidental, and "most probably electrical" according to Investigators.
The investigation of possible gunfire heard in the neighborhood earlier that morning was a matter handled separately by Los Angeles Police Department officials.
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Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department
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