On Sunday, Dec. 31, at 10:09 p.m, a fire call was dispatched in south Los Angeles.
Among the 22 units that responded included nine LAFD ambulances, one arson unit, two urban search and rescue units, one rehab unit, one hazardous materials team, three EMS battalion captains, six battalion chief officer command teams and one division chief officer command team, under the direction of Assistant Chief Donald Austin.
First units reported a large one-story, 100' x 200', metal clad commercial building with heavy fire conditions. Firefighters commenced a fierce initial interior attack on intense fire within the structure, only to be driven back by voluminous flames.
With a swift and well-coordinated transition to defensive tactics, firefighters utilized heavy stream appliances and strategically placed master streams, while additional personnel extinguished several fires which had ignited in the surrounding structures.
It took over 160 Firefighters just 59 minutes to gain control of the blaze in the structure, and extinguish the related fires in nearby buildings. There were no injuries.
Loss from the fire is still being tabulated. The cause of the blaze remains under active investigation.
