Commercial Fire in Hollywood Threatens Apartment Building
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
LAFD Spokesperson: Margaret Stewart
Blaze held to one business while firefighters protected the adjacent apartment building
Photo Credits:
Photo Credits: Creative Commons Licensed For Your Use: LAFD Photo | Erik ScottLOS ANGELES-
Firefighters protected 31 apartments from an early morning blaze in Hollywood.
At 4:04AM on March 14, 2017 the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to 4710 W Fountain Av to find a 9,627 square foot, two story strip mall with heavy smoke showing from one unit on the second floor.
As firefighters raised ladders and pulled hand lines, the flames emerged through the roof and immediately impinged the 31 unit apartment building abutting the structure.
While firefighters attacked the heavy flames on the second floor, two ‘water curtains’, water streams directed at the exposed structure and not the fire, protected the windows and attic vents on the apartment building in the fire’s path. Had any flames breached the water curtain and spread to the apartment, the result could have been disastrous.
Over 100 firefighters, led by Assistant Chief Stephen Gutierrez, extinguished the blaze in 51 minutes. The fire spread through the common facade (mansard style) but despite the heavily charred unit of origin, the adjacent businesses suffered only smoke and water damage.
The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety ‘yellow-tagged’ all downstairs businesses, allowing owners to retrieve property but not to open for business. The fire unit is the only ‘red-tagged’ business, closed until further notice.
The official cause is “undetermined, not suspicious in nature”, as deemed by a thorough investigation by LAFD Arson and Counter-Terrorism Unit.
No injuries were reported and the dollar loss is being tabulated.
Units Dispatched: AR2 BC1 BC11 BC2 BC5 CM22 E12 E203 E220 E227 E235 E26 E261 E27 E29 E35 E52 E6 E82 EA1 EM1 EM11 EM14 HR56 RA27 RA35 RA6 RA82 RA827 RA835 T20 T27 T3 T35 T61 UR27 UR88
