It took Torrance Firefighters 40 minutes to control a blaze that gutted a furniture store on Sepulveda Boulevard in the City of Torrance on October 19, 2004.
Firefighters en-route where advised that Torrance P.D. was already on scene reporting Laurel's Furniture Store "fully involved." Firefighters first on scene quickly ordered a second and third alarm as flames were shooting fifty feet into the air.
Torrance firefighters ventilating the roof of the uninvolved portion of the structure were quickly notified to get off the roof and go directly to master streams. A heavy fire load of furniture contributed to the well involved buildings roof quickly collapsing inwards.
Firefighters battled the blaze with two ladder pipes, a wagon battery and numerous hand lines.
The main portion of the building was a total loss. There were no reported injuries, preliminary damage estimate was at least one million dollars. The cause of the 3:00 AM blaze is listed as suspicious and is under investigation. Torrance Firefighters remained on scene several hours later extinquishing hot spots in the smoldering structure.
