Los Angeles FFs Face Multi-Alarm Blaze at Former Synagogue

Los Angeles firefighters battled a massive commercial blaze Friday that investigators suspect was connected to an illegal marijuana growing operation.

The multi-alarm fire began shortly after 11:30 a.m. in a former synagogue that had been turned into a commercial building in the city's Pico-Robertson area, KCBS-TV reports. Crews were forced into a defensive position when they reached the scene after encountering heavy flames that made entering the building difficult.

“There was zero visibility as they made entrance into the building on two different sides,” Dean Zipperman, LAFD assistant chief, said.

Flames caused the roof collapse, and firefighters attacked the blaze from the top of a nearby building. It took crews more than two hours to get the fire under control, and one firefighter was taken to the hospital for heat-related issues.

According to arson investigators, a possible illegal marijuana growing operation was being run out of the back of the building, and it might have started the blaze.